The Storms of Fire
by Kalyan
Summary: After Naruto abandons Konoha, Danzo sets out to hunt him down. Sasuke is determined to find Naruto to help him stop the coup. As the Villages lock themselves in their squabbles, the Akatsuki rises. Eventually, great battles will be fought and the games of power will be played.Will the duo find their true selves in this world or fall in the hands of those who lust for power?
1. Ch0: The Way of a Shinobi

**THE STORMS OF FIRE**

* * *

**Prologue**

* * *

**S**himura Danzo entered the great hallway, pushing open the door with his one arm and making it creak a little in the process.

The room was large, with a high ceiling and black marble floor. Sunlight drifted through the translucent windows, illuminating the room in a soft golden glow; A few pillars stood supporting the room, adding to the grandness; A raised platform stood at the other end with stone steps leading to it.

Pacing with quick strides, his footsteps barely echoing, Danzo made for the one man who stood on the platform, who was staring sadly at the five large photographs that were arranged on the wall opposite.

"Great people, weren't they? The Hokage?" Danzo said as he approached.

Uchiha Kagami didn't take his eyes off the pictures. His eyes traveled down from one picture to the other before finally landing on the face of his old friend, the Sandaime Hokage.

"Great indeed." he seemed to agree.

This room was the very same room where, in the days of the Shodaime and the Nidaime, the actual meetings, mission assignments and even court trials took place.

"Uchiha Obito-sama sure got himself into a mess now," Kagami said sadly as his eyes fell on the fifth photograph of the said Hokage. "But the shinobi seem satisfied enough that he'll manage. They are not calling for a successor Hokage like you expected," Kagami said, smiling. "It must be very hard for you Danzo, to always be the man of everyone's second choice."

Danzo was not the Hokage, but that didn't make him any less powerful or dangerous. Allied with his own clan, the Uchiha, plotting Coup together in the shadows, he was a threat to be reckoned and dealt with.

Danzo was not the Hokage, but he is now more powerful than any Kage living.

"What can I say, my friend? This is a time of peace," Danzo smiled, climbing up a step that led to the raised platform. The Root and the Uchiha, in secret, had allied with Suna and thwarted Kumogakure, which hosted during the Chuunin exams. The Sunagakure was wholly blamed for the incident. With the two villages drastically weakened and clawing at each other's throats; Iwagakure still weakened from the Third Great Ninja war and Kirigakure busy with its own civil war; Konohagakure was left as the only powerful military force standing in the continent.

"But also, it must be hard for you Kagami, to see the Uchiha root to my side after abandoning you, a fellow clansman. All these years you spent desperately hoping for me to fail. You rooted for the Sandaime in making Obito the Hokage. It is flattering, really, for you to be feeling such discomfort at my rise."

Kagami chuckled good-naturedly. "Who doesn't love to see their friends fail and suffer?"

Danzo's smile grew wider.

Uchiha Kagami turned and started down the stone stairs. Reaching the marble floor, he made his way towards the wooden door. But he stopped in his stride and turned when Danzo spoke again.

"I see, Kagami," Danzo said, walking down the stairs towards him. "I did, in fact, experience a particular sense of enjoyment when your son joined my side while you stood before me lecturing on about the 'Will of Fire'."

Danzo stopped before Kagami, facing him. Their calculating cold looks clashed as their eyes met.

"I heard that Uzumaki Naruto abandoned the village a few hours ago, Danzo. As I recall, he was assigned to the Root. But it looked like he didn't share your sentiments like Shisui. I wonder why..."

"Uzumaki Naruto will be caught and dealt with accordingly, Kagami. I will make sure of it."

Kagami stared back coldly at Danzo. "Why are you here, Danzo? Why did you want to meet me? Surely you should've realized that drawing me to your side is a fruitless task."

"No, Kagami. You misunderstand," Danzo said, smiling. "I came here to warn you to stay out of my way."

Kagami was inexpressive. "I do what I do only for Konoha."

Danzo scoffed. "Really? Do you know what the village is?"

Kagami's eyes itched to morph into the sharingan.

Danzo smirked. "What everyone thinks is that the village is a place where shinobi pledge allegiance to a common cause – That is a lie that was being said since generations, a lie repeated so much that we forgot what the truth is…"

"But do you really want to face the truth?" Kagami asked, thinking of the shinobi wars that had plagued during the older days. The clan wars fought for the daimyos for the expansion of territories, unstable alliances and mistrustful friends. Greedy bandits and snatchers who took advantage of the chaos, clan leaders who craved for power over their own kin…

"Anarchy!" Kagami hissed. "The threat of complete and utter destruction! Is that the truth you want to face?!"

"Anarchy isn't a threat, Kagami…" Danzo said, giving that smile that seemed to say he knew everything. "Anarchy is an opportunity… Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara were regarded only after they put an end to the chaos. The world bowed to them, treated them as saviors.

"In the end, Hashirama gave his own meaning of the shinobi. A shinobi is the one who endures through the darkness – another lie." Danzo sighed. "Which brings to my next question…" he continued. "What is a shinobi?"

"It seems you already know the answer." Kagami said icily.

Danzo smiled contentedly, the events of the past six months flashing through his mind, giving him an even clearer picture. "Yes, I do… I know the real meaning of a shinobi…

* * *

Six months ago, Naruto had grinned widely as he tied the Konoha hiai-te around his forehead, beaming at his reflection in the mirror in front of him.

_'It all starts like a beautiful dream...'_

Sakura and Sasuke stared wide eyed at Naruto. Their eyes slowly travelled to Kakashi-sensei, who was dangling down a tree branch with his feet tied to it. Yet he was still reading the orange book upside down, unbothered that his three cute genin were laughing their heads off at the sight.

_'…a dream of hope and opportunity...there will be accomplishments...'_

A furious scratch-faced Naruto held out the screaming cat - Tora - to Kakashi, insisting that, as he was his team leader, he should be the one holding the prize. Kakashi cheerfully denied.

_'...Victories...'_

Sasuke swung around Naruto, holding him by his hands as he knocked off the bandit. Naruto landed on his feet and with the added momentum threw Sasuke at the bandit leader.

_'..a few losses that gives them a desire to improve...'_

Sasuke cringed as Sakura tied the bandages to his broken leg and slipped it in into a cast. She turned her eyes to Naruto, who had his broken arm hidden out of sight, insisting he was alright.

_'...then the dream slowly turns into a nightmare...'_

Kakashi yelled at his team to escape as he stood facing the missing nin. The three genin started the other way, but one of the missing nin shot forward, easily dodging Kakashi's kunai, and lunged towards the shocked blond.

_'...they will have to face the hard truth...'_

Inside the Konoha hospital, a tearful Sakura took Naruto's hand in hers and squeezed it tightly.

Sasuke stared sadly at his injured teammate on the bed. He gritted his teeth. Without any warning, he stormed out of the door.

_'...the shinobi will then realize that the cruel world is out to get them...'_

Sasuke and Naruto sat on the Sandaime's stone head of Hokage monument, impassively staring down at the village. A cool breeze ruffled their clothes.

"Kakashi enlisted us for the Chunin exams." Sasuke said.

"Oh..."

Naruto remained silent for a few minutes. "Is Sakura-chan still not talking to you?"

"... No."

Naruto stood up and stretched. "Then I'll have to something about that... Or I'll have to listen to another lecture from Kakashi-sensei about teamwork. Boy, I really can't have that."

Sasuke smiled inwardly.

_'...then come the manipulations...'_

Uchiha Fugaku handed his younger son a sealed note. He was smiling. "It is from Uchiha Setsuna-sama. He says the letter is for your eyes only. You must not disclose the contents to anyone, not even to me."

_'...the lies...'_

"You, Sasuke, will be the savior of our clan," Uchiha Setsuna whispered at the wide-eyed raven. "The reincarnation of Uchiha Madara himself. I can see it in you."

Sasuke looked shocked.

"Do you, Uchiha Sasuke, pledge your allegiance to the Uchiha clan, and do whatever it takes to bring it glory and fame?"

Sasuke gulped. "Yes."

Hidden in the shadows of the room, his older brother narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

Two days later, Sasuke watched sadly as Itachi left down the path and out of the clan compound with his things packed…disowned by the Uchiha.

His father was by his side along with many other Uchiha staring at the retreating figure of Itachi with hate and disdain. "I hope you don't disappoint me the same way, Sasuke," Fugaku said before heading back to the house.

Later that day, Danzo was speaking to Uchiha Fugaku. "Your son has access to Uzumaki Naruto. If he comes to our side, then the Kumo invasion and Konoha Coup d'état will be a child's play."

"Don't worry, Danzo-sama." Fugaku smiled. "Sasuke is ready to prove himself to me and the rest of the Uchiha. He will accept."

_'...and the eventual betrayals.'_

Sasuke looked down the arena, horrified. Gaara and Naruto, who had been contesting against one another a moment ago, were now on their knees, screaming. As a foul chakra emitted from them, he felt a sense of dread rush through his body. A surge of killer intent washed over the entire Kumogakure. The people had realized had something was wrong; and suddenly, Suna shinobi emerged out of nowhere and started battling the Kumo shinobi.

Gaara was screaming as the sand covered the right half of his face and body, making him look like a half-raccoon. His pupils narrowed until it was diamond-shaped. A long, spiky sand-tail grew out from behind him.

Naruto was on all fours, three tails sprouting out of his back. Dense, wispy, red hot chakra surrounded him, giving him the appearance of a humanoid Kyuubi. He gave a low shuddering growl that was heard through the entire arena.

Sasuke, with a sudden jolt of horror, realized how it happened. It was him - he clenched his eyes shut, gritting his teeth. But the sharingan was spiralling madly behind his eye lids piercing into the bests' minds and blood freely tricled down his eyes. "No...no, please stop..."He whimpered.

_"No..."_ A voice hissed inside his head. "Let it all out, Sasuke-kun."

He felt the surge of power from the two beasts in the center of the arena. As one, they rose, roaring at the sky, their arms open wide, tails thrashing violently behind.

Thus began the destruction of Kumo.

_'…the betrayal…usually will be followed by a painful loss…'_

"NOOOO!" Sasuke screamed as Naruto, no - the four-tailed beast - slashed at Sakura, sending her flying away. She fell almost thirty feet away from them.

She never moved again.

* * *

"It was at this point, Kagami…" Danzo explained, "when a Shinobi chooses to endure…"

Kagami had his eyes narrowed as was staring coldly at Danzo

"…or not."

* * *

One month later at a classified trial, Sasuke, in chains, pleaded guilty. Knowing full well that he was not.

"Have you got anything to add, Uzumaki?" Koharu asked, looking down at Naruto who stood beside him.

Sasuke glanced nervously towards Setsuna, who nodded reassuringly.

Naruto took a deep breath. Looking up at the faces of the jury, he smiled devilishly. "I just wish it had been Konoha."

_'…if the shinobi doesn't endure the pain, he will learn to hate… He will vow to bring them the same pain that they've caused him…'_

Two months later, in root headquarters, Naruto calmly walked out of the large, circular sealing matrix that he had been standing on the middle of before.

Coolly collecting his orange jacket and his fox shaped Root ANBU mask, he quietly waded out of the door, smiling at the tortuous screams of his five fellow root members who, but a few minutes ago, had tried to extract the Kyuubi from him.

_'He will learn to plot, scheme, and deceive. And when the moment strikes right, he will make his move…"_

Naruto still wore his ANBU mask as he walked out of the village gate. Walking away. Forever.

And when he comes back, it shall be the day when Konoha will fall.

_'…the shinobi who chooses darkness… He will either win… or he will die. That, Kagami, is what he shall be capable of… And understanding such a person… one would be a better ruler…'_

Sasuke, seated before the grave marked 'Haruno Sakura', gritted his teeth as a tear trickled down his cheek.

_'That is the true meaning of a shinobi…_

Naruto leapt across the branches, his previously emotionless face behind the fox mask slowly splitting into an ominous grin.

_'…That will be his legacy…'_

* * *

**~To be continued~**


	2. Ch1: The Jinchuriki's Betrayal

**Chapter One**

* * *

**Hokage Tower**

When the Godaime Hokage - Uchiha Obito - announced the defection of Uzumaki Naruto, silence washed over the assembled Team Eight, Team Ten and Team Gai. All the ninja in the room knew that this would eventually happen one day, given the episode at the chunnin exam in Kumogakure a few months ago. But the news was still a shock. Obito had personally thought that it would happen sooner.

Neji frowned as he heard the silent sobs of Hyuuga Hinata. Lee exchanged a solemn look with Gai. Behind him, Shikamaru sighed deeply. Chouji placed a hand on Ino's shoulder and looked at her sorrowfully. Tenten looked outside the window with a sad look on her face. Kiba could only stare at the floor as Akamaru whined sadly on his head. Shino simply looked impassive, but the low buzzing sounds that came from him told that even he felt disturbed. Kurenai was staring sadly at Hinata.

"What of Uchiha Sasuke? Did Naruto…kill him?" Sarutobi Asuma asked the one-eyed Hokage quietly.

"He's gravely injured in his battle with Naruto and is currently in a critical condition. Kakashi managed to bring him back in time," Obito said in an impassive tone. "Tsunade-sama herself is treating his injuries…"

"Sasuke-kun…" Ino whispered tearfully.

There was silence for almost a whole minute when, suddenly, Hinata turned heel and stormed out of the room, uncharacteristically slamming the door shut behind her.

"Hinata-Sama!" Neji called out.

"Let her be," the one-eyed Hokage said, raising from his chair and turning towards the window behind him.

"You all are dismissed." He heard the sounds of shuffling feet, the door opening, the low muttering of words being exchanged and the door finally closing shut again. As he looked mournfully over the village, he was reminded of the blond enigma who always made him smile. He had promised his sensei that he'd look after Naruto, promised, and yet… he'd still let Konoha's corrupt diplomacy pollute him. With the threat of the Uchiha rebellion, Danzo's root schemes, Orochimaru's recent betrayal and the threat of Akatsuki, Naruto had been thrown to the back of his mind. But he'd taken in the reports of the ANBU assigned to watch over Naruto to check if he was mistreated because he was the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki.

Naruto was never mistreated. He was never mobbed by angry villagers. He was never abused.

Obito's face turned stony. The Sandaime had asked the villagers not to admonish Naruto, and he villagers hadn't. Instead, they pretended that there was no Naruto.

Obito knew loneliness. Naruto would've welcomed even a blow to his head from some drunk villager, a telling off from an angry shopkeeper… anything to get acknowledged, anything to convince himself that he wasn't invisible… that he wasn't just some ghost…

Obito's eye caught an impassive Uchiha Setsuna walking towards the tower, flanked by four Uchiha Military Police. Obito gritted his teeth. He hated the man.

In a meeting with the Uchiha elders, when the Sandaime had declared that next Hokage will be an Uchiha, Setsuna, Fugaku and the other Uchiha elders had looked mildly shocked. Never in their wildest dreams that

they ever thought that the Sandaime was going to say those words. They had put in their votes without any hesitation, not even knowing the name of the candidate.

A light smile crossed on Obito's face.

But then it was declared that the next Hokage was Uchiha Obito. They had been simply outraged. "Anyone but him!" they had shouted.

Obito, on becoming Hokage, had promptly stripped the Uchiha of all its powers. All of the Uchiha members on various councils were expelled. Even the Uchiha military police was modified to that of a Simple Konoha Battalion. He had transferred many potential Uchiha from the police force to various other divisions in Konoha. He never let too many Uchiha accumulate in one place. That would be the same as asking for a rebellion. Soon, the whispers of a coup 'eat quietened and the Uchiha lost their drive.

The Sandaime had been impressed. The Uchiha elders had not.

'Blood traitor'. They called him that behind his back.

A few minutes later, the door behind him opened. Not a second later, the cold but calm voice of Uchiha Setsuna spoke up. "Hokage-sama…"

Obito turned to the aged Uchiha, eyes narrowed and a dark smile on his face. "Please come in," he said, "How are you feeling today?"

Setsuna's eyes answered it. Like putting a kunai in your throat, Hokage. But aloud, he said, "I've come to discuss the future of Uchiha Sasuke as a potential asset to the village."

To the Uchiha Rebellion, you mean. Obito's smile grew wider. This is going to be interesting.

* * *

**The Jinchuriki's Betrayal**

**人柱力の裏切り**

(Jinchūriki no uragiri)

* * *

**Konoha General Hospital**

Sasuke awoke to the sound of something beeping. He slowly opened his eyes and stared at the white ceiling of the room. The smell of disinfectant reached his nostrils. So he was in Konoha Hospital. He racked his mind, trying to remember why he was there in the first place, but it made his head hurt.

He sighed before sinking back into the comfortable bed, resting his head on the soft pillows, he closed his eyes. It will come back to him eventually. Probably a Jutsu failure, or maybe Naruto had finally pushed him off the Hokage monument like he always promised.

Naruto…

A pair of angry red eyes and dark, silt pupils flashed into Sasuke's mind. His eyes shot open, his heart suddenly pounding as his body automatically reacted to a danger that was not there anymore. He quickly calmed himself, despite the uneasy feeling that refused to go away. He remembered. He had confronted

Naruto at the final valley. After that... strangely… nothing. What had happened?

As he tried to sit up, a pair of strong arms pushed him back into the bed. "Easy, Gaki."

Sasuke looked up, straight into the eyes of Jiraiya of the Sannin. As ever, he was dressed in his ridiculous red outfit with the horned hiai-te of Mount Myobuku. The heavy contract scroll was strapped on to his back. He had a sad smile playing on his face as he looked down at Sasuke.

"How are you feeling, Gaki?" Jiraiya asked, trying and failing to disguise his tone as carefree.

Sasuke didn't answer, asking his own question instead. "Where is Naruto?" he demanded.

Jiraiya just stared outside the window. "Gone."

Sasuke gritted his teeth, his bangs overshadowing his eyes. "Did you know?"

"Hm?"

Sasuke's voice was dangerously quiet. "Don't act so oblivious…"

Jiraiya turned and narrowed his eyes at him.

Sasuke's voice was calm, but it was layered with malice, "_Did you know he was working for Danzo?"_

"Yes," he answered quietly, his face void of any emotion. "Yes, I did…"

Sasuke felt like punching the Sannin in the face. The injustice of it all bubbled in his stomach. He wanted to blame everything on Jiraiya… blame him for Naruto's loneliness… blame him for Sakura's death…

But Jiraiya wasn't the only one to blame…

Shimura Danzo; Uchiha Setsuna; Aburame Shindo; Uchiha Shisui; Orochimaru anf Fourth Khazekage to name a few. Everyone had manipulated Naruto and tried to use him. They used and twisted his innocence to further their own ambitions.

"Oh, did he successfully learn that jutsu, the one you were teaching him?" Jiraiya asked, looking at Sasuke'schest.

Following the Sannin's eyes, Sasuke looked down at the bandages wrapped around his chest. After he'd discovered that Naruto's secondary elemental affinity was lightning, he had offered to teach him Chidori in return for the Rasengan. He'd told him that he wanted to teach him Chidori because he didn't want Naruto to be a deadweight on the field. But in reality, he'd done it out of gratefulness and guilt when he saved his life once.

He cringed as he recalled Naruto piercing the Chidori through his back at the Final Valley, the kage bunshin before him dispelling in a puff of smoke. Though Naruto had said that he missed the heart by mistake, Sasuke knew he was lying. That was the only part he remembered after he confronted him... strange...

"Sasuke…"

Sasuke met Jiraiya's serious eyes.

"What happened at the Final Valley? What exactly happened to the Root ANBU who had gone to retrieve him?" His eyes narrowed dangerously. "Did they try to extract the Kyuubi?"

Sasuke blinked, confused. He tried to recall what had happened to the ANBU, but his memories came up blank. There was nothing in particular about extracting of the Kyuubi, either. As he tried to remember, he observed that from the time he'd sneaked off after the ANBU, all he remembered was facing a murderous

Naruto and getting hit by the Chidori. Nothing about the fight either. He frowned.

"I don't… remember…"

Jiraiya looked suspicious. "You don't?" Sasuke shook his head. Jiraiya approached him and placed his chakra-glowing hand on Sasuke's head. A sudden sharp pain spread through Sasuke's forehead to his eyes.

He yelled out. Jiraiya jerked his arm back.

"Why the hell did you do that!?" he demanded.

"I didn't," he Sannin answered. "Someone put a seal in your mind… genjutsu… blocking a few memories…"

He lowered his arm and frowned. "...Someone who certainly knew what they were doing…"

"Can you break through them?" Sasuke asked anxiously.

"Oh, I can break through them alright… Only problem is, you won't be alive to tell us what you remember…"

"Oh…" Sasuke stared at his palms, wondering why anyone would want him to forget the fight.

"Naruto is listed as an S-class missing-nin," Jiraiya informed him gravely. "The orders are to kill on sight."

"What? Kill on sight? Why S-class?" Sasuke jerked his head up.

"I'd ask the five Root ANBU corpses they brought back…"

* * *

**Location Unknown**

Uzumaki Naruto limped through the forest. His leg was healing, but not fast enough. He winced as sharp pain shot through the injury. With a strained yelp, he fell onto his back. Sweating, he crawled towards the nearest tree and leaned his back to it. He pulled out his mask from the weapons pouch. It had a long crack running down it. As he traced his finger down it, he felt his old anger resurface.

The pain shot again, and Naruto hissed, the mask slipping from his fingers and clattering to the ground.

Wincing again as the wound burned, he leaned forward, slowly untying the blood-soaked black cloth – which had once been the sleeve of his jacket – from his wounded leg. Gasping for breath, he leaned his head back. His chest rose and fell. Every breath seemed hard.

Tearing off the other sleeve of the jacket, he leaned forward again and tied it around the leg, wincing.

_Do your work, you damn fox!_

Dizziness spread through him and he leaned back again. His vision was going blurry. Naruto realized that he was fainting. Blood loss? Had to be…

Through his blurry vision, he saw a silhouette approaching him. Naruto tried to get up, but his body wouldn'trespond. The figure was stepping closer, its movements noiseless.

"Stay...back..." He managed to whisper.

The figure crouched before him.

"It's me, Naruto-kun," a girl's voice whispered back. A black haired, blue eyed, bespectacled girl of thirteen came in to focus. She looked concerned.

Naruto looked back at her in shock. His eyes travelled from her face to the Kumo hiai-te tied around her neck. The girl placed her hands over Naruto's injured leg. A second later, they glowed with a soft-green chakra. Naruto felt a strange warmth spread through his entire body as his leg healed. He was still dizzy though.

"I told you to stay hidden," he mumbled, trying to look displeased.

The girl smiled haughtily. "You tell me to do a lot of things."

As soon as she healed his injury, she pulled him to his feet. And before Naruto could protest, he was being carried piggy-back style on her back.

She shot upwards towards the canopy. Naruto rested his head on her shoulder and his drooped as the trees passed by them in a blur.

"Sleep," she commanded.

Naruto tried to argue, but suddenly, sleep sounded like a very good idea.

The girl formed a half tora seal and the genjutsu took effect. A sweet fragrance dominated his nostrils and Naruto sank into a deep sleep.

A few yards behind his cracked mask stayed on the ground. Just another forgotten bad memory.

* * *

**~ To be Continued ~**


	3. Ch2: The Shukuba Incident

**Chapter Two**

* * *

**Three Years Later**

* * *

**Root HQ, Konoha**

**S**eated at a desk, Danzo glared at the reports and photographs set in front of him. With a well concealed snort of disgust, he stood up, grabbing his cane with his one hand, he started to pace around the room, tapping it as he did.

His operatives around the shinobi continent had come to dead end. There was no sign of Uzumaki Naruto.

As though determined to submit something of quality in the reports, they would add – Sighting of a blond male by a farmer in Kaminari no kuni; mysterious death of a local tyrant in Nikko- sure sign of Uzumaki Naruto; strange seals found in Suna fortress ruins- work of Uzumaki Naruto…

Danzo sighed in frustration. Naruto was the key to his plan from the very beginning. If only he'd manage to get Uchiha Setsuna on his side sooner, he would be currently in charge of Konoha, and Naruto would be by his side, helping him get organized.

If only things went according to plan at the final valley, Naruto would've become his puppet. But Naruto was just too smart, always a step ahead. He might have even figured out their entire plan. Naruto might look oblivious on the outside, but he was not the one to be underestimated.

When he was assigned to ANBU Root after the incident, he saw a twinkle in his eye and a dark smile. It was when that Danzo decided to stomp out his emotions and turn him into an emotionless tool before he turned against the village.

But, Naruto was always a step ahead…always…

The door to the room opened, interrupting his thoughts. Uchiha Setsuna stood in the doorway, with his ever present frown on his face.

Setsuna looked worse than the last time Danzo saw him. The black circles under his eyes had turned shades darker and the few wrinkles on the aged Uchiha's face seemed to have deepened. His spiky brown hair turned almost grey. Yet, there seemed to be a strange composure around him that he was not the one to be underestimated. In the inner circles of the Uchiha conspirators he was known as 'The Second Madara'.

"Well?" Danzo said.

Setsuna held out the scrolls that he was carrying. "They don't make sense at all!" He rasped. "Don't you see? Orochimaru was just bluffing!"

"I don't see." Danzo said in an expressionless tone.

Setsuna gritted his teeth. "I don't believe for a second that Orochimaru was able to decipher the Uchiha tablet without the sharingan." He stepped into the room and dumped the scrolls on the already packed table.

When Orochimaru was in the Root, he was assigned the task to decipher the tablet after the Uchiha alliance.

Danzo and Setsuna had believed that, the contents would help them greatly in their agenda. Though Setsuna was initially against it, he let the non-Uchiha gaze upon the tablet as a sign of good faith. After gazing deeply and seriously into the tablet, Orochimaru suddenly gave a wide grin like he understood something.

"No one can read this." Orochimaru declared smoothly. "But, I can decipher it. Just give me a few months."

Orochimaru never looked at the tablet again. But, as days passed Orochimaru's actions told them that he was onto something. He would pore over ancient scrolls and books, conduct strange experiments and all the while, he kept smiling like he is finally on a breakthrough.

When Orochimaru turned traitor and abandoned the village that was when Danzo realized that he had finally succeeded. There was no other possible explanation.

After that the Root salvaged whatever it could from Orochimaru's destroyed files and scrolls. Setsuna and the Uchiha under him were set to the task of re-deciphering and understanding of Orochimaru's workings.

Setsuna looked at Danzo. "Things are getting out of hand, Danzo."

Danzo narrowed his uncovered eye.

"I kept my end of the bargain." Setuna pointed at himself and his eyes moved down to Danzo's sealed arm. "It is about time you honored your side of the arrangement."

"The plan cannot move forward without the Kyuubi. I trust you realize that, Setsuna." Danzo said, anger flowing into his impassive tone.

The spiky haired Uchiha narrowed his eye.

"Then find it." The elder Uchiha hissed. "My patience is wearing thin."

* * *

**The Shukuba Incident**

宿場の事件

(Shukuba no Jiken)

* * *

**Konoha Hot Springs**

**(Womens' Side)**

Uchiha Sasuke's eyebrow twitched as a vein throbbed in his forehead. His annoyance was further intensified when he heard unmanly giggles come from Jiraiya, who was peeking through a hole into the women's section of the hot-springs.

"_Ahem._" He cleared his throat, trying to get Jiraya's attention.

Jiraiya's giggles grew stronger and his face went red. "Ahhh…people are going to kill for my next book!"

"_Jiraiya_." Sasuke seethed.

"Just a second, Gaki." Jiraya snapped, still peering into the baths. "I'm on a verge of a breakthrough over here!"

Sasuke groaned defeatedly.

When Inuzuka Kiba came to him running at the training grounds and told him that Jiraya wanted to have a word with him and was waiting for him at the Onsen, he took off so fast that he might have used the Hiraishin. If Kiba of all people had looked serious, then he assumed that Jiraya had too. He might have discovered something new…about Naruto.

Three Years have passed and there had been no sign of Naruto, somehow he was scared that Naruto had met his demise and his death was being kept secret. But, Jiraiya seemed confident that Naruto was hiding and biding his time. He told him that there were signs of Naruto, but no solid proof.

This time he must have struck gold.

After the events at the final valley, Team Seven was officially disbanded. For a year Sasuke trained under Kakashi and completed missions under him, till he became Chunin. But, after Hyuuga Hinata's defection Sasuke was reassigned to Team Eight under Yuhi Kurenai's supervision and Kakashi became an ANBU captain.

Jiraiya giggled again and Sasuke had a strong temptation to introduce a rasengan to his face.

Sasuke's attire didn't change much during the years. He still wore a standard Uchiha, high collar shirt with the crest on the back. The white shorts that he wore during his genin days were replaced with standard chunin pants with the usual kunai and shuriken holsters, and the weapons pouch. The Konoha hiai-te was tied around his forehead.

Sighing, Sasuke sat beside Jiraiya leaning his back to the wall.

Spotting a green book by Jiraiya's side titled 'Icha-Icha Tactics' he curiously lifted it and studied the cover.

"This your new book?" He asked curiously.

This time Jiraiya looked at him. "Yes!" He said excitedly, wiping off a nosebleed. "That's the first copy! The book has not been out yet!"

"Hmm…" Sasuke turned a page.

Jiraiya went back to the hole. "I even added some of the excellent ideas that you gave me!"

Sasuke cringed at the memory. "You did?"

"Yes! The publisher loved them!"

Sasuke tried to suppress those memories that gave him an urge to repeatedly bang his head against the wall.

"Good to know," He managed. "So, any news of Naruto?" Jiraiya's creepy grin faltered and he turned to Sasuke, his eyes now serious.

"Open this." He handed Sasuke a large envelope from the folds of his robes.

Curious, Sasuke opened the cover and pulled out one of the photographs. It was a photo of a black haired girl about his age wearing glasses who seemed vaguely familiar. The shot seemed to have been taken in public. She was wearing a black hooded mantle.

"Osugi Tatsuya. One of my spies found her. You know, a M.I.A genin suddenly shows up in a crowded town. One has to be an idiot not to smell a rat."

"That's Tatsuya?" Sasuke recalled Naruto's stalker fangirl in Kumo. "Wait...Missing in Action?"

"She was of Kumogakure. She was presumed dead in the Chunin exams you attended. In the second stage."

"But, how does that relate with Naruto?"

"Check the next photograph."

Sasuke pulled another photo out of the cover and his eyes widened as he took in the detail. The photo was of a dead man, a shinobi with his eyes wide, who clean hole ripped through the chest. The armor plate he wore was cracked and melted exactly to take the shape of the hole. He knew the jutsu that can cause this kind of damage - _Chidori._

"There are only three people in the world who can perform that jutsu. One is here, in Konoha. Probably, giggling with his nose dug in one of my many masterpieces, the second is sitting before me and the third…did that…"

"Who is the man?" Sasuke asked.

"The spy keeping tabs on Tatsuya."

Sasuke's heart raced. After three years. Three long years of searching, he finally felt that he was onto something. But, something was not right…

"Naruto wouldn't use such an obvious jutsu," Sasuke frowned. "even if he did he wouldn't leave the body lying around."

Jiraiya looked impressed. "Exactly!" He peeped back into the hole.

"What do you mean?"

"He wants us to find him…"

Sasuke remained silent for a while, pondering over this new theory. He looked back at the first photo.

"Where was Tatsuya?"

"The photograph was taken in Shukuba Town…and that is very suspicious…"

Shukuba Town is one of the fairly crowded towns in Hi no Kuni, easy to blend in. Sasuke didn't see how that was suspicious.

"Why?"

"Because that's where Hyuuga Hinata is right now."

"Hinata?"

Jiraiya nodded.

"Wait. Is Hinata in contact with Naruto?"

Jiraiya smiled, turning towards Sasuke. "Naruto was planning to defect from the very beginning since the Chunin exams. He had a plan in his mind." Jiraiya nodded, impressed. "He had formed his little group before he even left the village. Shisui taught him well in Root."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"His plan was going perfectly until you came in and ruined it at final valley. It was all laid out before us, only that we were blind to see it. Tatsuya…Hinata…Gaara…"

"Wait…even Gaara?"

Sasuke heard of Gaara's failed assassination attempt on his father, the Khazekage. He had fled the village after that and was listed as an S-class missing nin.

"But, something else bugs me…if not Hinata, Naruto must have someone else inside the village feeding him information…"

"Who?" Sasuke leaned forward.

"My first guess…" Jiraiya said, eyes narrowed suspiciously at Sasuke. "…was you."

There was utter silence for five seconds, punctured by the laughs from the baths.

"Me?" Sasuke said, trying to sound exasperated and failing.

"Why not?" Jiraiya whispered suspiciously. "You are in direct contact with me, the Hokage, ANBU and Setsuna. You have direct information flow from all the centers in the village. You have multiple memory seals in your mind, probably disguising your memory as Naruto's co-conspirator. Maybe you aided Naruto in killing those Root members three years ago and took a chidori to your chest on purpose, slightly missing your heart, just a minute before Kakashi arrived. Thereby gaining our sympathies and trusting with you the little information that we gather about Naruto in your desperation to find him. You…maybe Naruto's spy."

Sasuke realized that his mouth was hanging and closed it.

Jiraiya continued to look at him suspiciously and suddenly burst out laughing. "GYAHAHAHAHA…got you there, didn't I?"

Sasuke still looked troubled. "Wait…what if you are right? What if I'm‒?

"No, you're not…I checked…"

"How?" Sasuke asked anxiously.

"That was the tricky part, I almost missed it. The seals in your mind have a little bit of your chakra accumulated around them. This tells us that your chakra was fighting back when the seals were placed on you. If you allowed the seals to be willingly placed on your mind, there wouldn't be any."

"But, that still doesn't explain…"

"And…" Jiraiya cut through, cheerfully. "Naruto doesn't trust you…well I son't blame him, after what you did to him. That's a good enough reason."

Sasuke frowned at the ground, wishing that the spy theory was true. At least he'd be in Naruto's trust. "I didn't know what they were planning…"

"Oh, forget it!" Jiraiya waved his arm and went back to peeping. "What's done is done!"

Sasuke leaned his head back on the wall as he pondered. If he caught up with Hinata, she'll lead him to Naruto. He just had to find a good excuse to get to Shukuba Town.

"I think you should get back to your team, you have a mission."

"No we don't.", Sasuke frowned. Today they were taking a break from missions and were planning to train their combo moves.

"Yes, you do. You have a scroll to deliver in Shukuba town." Jiraiya said, still peering into the hole. "I am the client and I expressly requested for Team Kurenai."

Sasuke blinked. His lips slowly turned into a triumphant smirked as he stood up. "Well I'd better get ready, then."

"Yes, yes…now go. OOOHHH!" His face turned bright red as he looked into the hole, his lips turned into a wide leer. "Now this is really TOO MUCH!"

"Why don't you just use the camouflage jutsu and step in there?" Sasuke was curious.

Jiraya froze in his mid-leer and slowly turned to Sasuke, his eyes as wide as saucers. "Its official now…" He managed to whisper. "You are my successor to the Icha-Icha!"

"Wait...WHAT?!"

It was too late, Jiraiya formed a seal and vanished from sight. As Sasuke heard the sound of wooden sandals and stifled giggling move away from him he wondered if Jiraiya was serious about that part.

* * *

**Shukuba Town**

Shukuba Town was not a place for a girl. Not particularly for a girl alone.

The pleasure district in Hi no Kuni was a very busy one. Sounds of merry and laughter were heard from every hotel, inn, restaurant and brothel that she passed.

A very pretty girl in a town like this will be treated like…well, like every other pretty girl in the brothels here.

She had lost count of the winks, nose bleeds and leers that she got from the men that she passed. She wore a hooded cloak, but that didn't seem to be completely covering her shapely body. One man tried to slap her butt, but before he could do that she caught his hand and fixed him with a glare. The man looked shocked and confused as he looked at her, then it soon melted away to the look of horror as his eyes rested on her exposed forehead beneath the hood. He suddenly jerked his hand away from her grasp and ran away, covered in cold sweat, turning and sparing her glances to see if she was following.

Hyuuga Hinata sighed. It wasn't long before the man found a shinobi or a local lawman and informed about her presence. She had to finish her work fast. But, she was secretly glad that even a civilian in a town like this knew about her.

Stopping before a brothel in the Fun-Fun Avenue, she activated her Byakugan. As she expected she found her target flanked by two guards at the bar section in ground floor. Stepping in, she made her way towards him and sat on a bar stool a few meters away from him. Slipping them out of the cloak, she crossed her legs in a very seducing fashion. It didn't take long to attract Gato's attention.

The balding, short tyrant leered at her. Pushing his shades down his nose, he winked at her. Hinata smiled coyly at him, she got up from her seat and made her way towards him, swaying her hips slightly. If Gato found the hooded cloak questionable, he didn't question it. He waved off the samurai guards who strolled away, grinning. "Have some fun, boys!" Soon spotting a couple of girls benoking at them, the guards smiled and stepped towards them.

Hinata reached Gato, smiling she placed her arms on his chest in a very seducing manner and very slowly made her way down. Gato shuddered in pleasure, grinning widely. As her hands reached over his heart she sent a Jyuuken strike, silent but deadly, blocking the heart valves. Gato died instantly, the sickly grin still plastered on his face. Hinata slowly lowered him onto the bar table, making him looked like he passed out drinking. With the byakugan she noticed that no one was looking her way. Everyone were busy in their own game. Smiling, she got to work.

* * *

"Well?" Haku asked.

"It's done. Gato is dead." Hinata said.

Haku simply looked at her, expressionless.

They were at their temporary hideout, an abandoned house north of the town. It was surrounded by special stealth seals that Naruto made. Though Hinata never met Naruto since his defection, he was in contact with her through an former Kumo nin called Tatsuya whom Naruto seemed to trust more than anyone else.

"But, where's his body?" Haku asked waving his arms around, frustration suddenly showing up on his face. "You know we can't collect the bounty without it! You should've gotten the head at least! "

"Oh. That won't be a problem." Hinata said, brushing it away. "They'll know it was us."

"How?!"

Hinata stared at Haku like he just asked a really stupid question.

"Oh," Haku's eyes dawned in realization. "But, will Tatsuya be pleased? She's been warning us to keep our noses clean…"

"It was for Zabuza." Hinata said firmly. "And also I don't give a damn about what that bitch thinks."

Two weeks after Hinata left Konoha, she was taken in by the Kiri missing nin (which at some point was Tatsuya's and Naruto's plan). Zabuza died protecting her and Haku from Gato and his thugs who were looking for revenge after they destroyed their operation in the Land of waves. She and Haku were disguised as Kiri Hunter-nin and thankfully Gato didn't see their faces.

"Naruto isn't gonna be pleased either."

Hinata folded her hands, thinking about Naruto. "He'll understand…" She whispered.

* * *

The next day a crowd gathered around Gato's unmoving body, head still on the table and his arm around it, blocking it from view.

The Samurai-guard frowned, a drunk civilian had been telling around that he saw Hyuuga Hinata around these parts last night. As he reached out and pulled Gato's hand away, he realized that the man was speaking the truth.

Bright red, carved on the grinning face of Gato, on his fore head was a swastika with two horizontal lines on either sides. The trademark of the kills of the missing-nin Hyuuga.

Behind the crowd, two shinobi stood silently. They were dressed in similar attire: conical straw hats with tiny bells attached and chin high black cloaks with imprints of red clouds. One of them looked particularly taller than the other, with what looked like a humongous sword wrapped in bandages strapped on to his back. He looked down at his partner who was staring seriously into the crowd.

"Ne, Shisui-san? Do you really we should be pursuing the Kyuubi? You know what Leader said..."

Uchiha Shisui said nothing for a few seconds. "Come, Kisame. I have an idea where he might be..."

The Akatsuki agents turned and walked away, the bells dinging lightly as they moved. Beneath the hat, Shisui narrowed his eye. Silently forming a one hand seal, the Konoha's spy sent a message to Shimura Danzo.

_The Kyuubi is coming out to play._

* * *

**~To be Continued~**


	4. Ch3: Wrong Day to Die

**Chapter Three**

* * *

**Konoha**

**Y**uhi Kurenai was a proud Jonin of Konoha. She was given under her care three young Genin for her to nurture and to make them loyal and skillful shinobi of Konoha. She was sure that she the original team Kurenai would be one of the finest teams in the village. Kurenai was confident that she had been a good teacher.

She was wrong.

Who would've thought that Hyuuga Hinata, the shy girl who rarely spoke in public, the girl who secretly held affections for Naruto would turn traitor and abandon the village after killing a member of her own clan?

Kurenai blamed it on herself. Everyone, including Kiba and Shino told her that she was not to blame. But, deep inside Kurenai knew that it was her duty to foresee this disaster. Hinata was showing the signs of anger and resentment to everyone and everything she met. Everyone knew that it was because of Naruto. Kurenai like everyone thought that Hinata would get over her childhood crush and move on.

She was never more wrong. It seemed like, by every passing day, Hinata was turning more and more violent.

After ruthlessly killing a rouge ninja during a mission and almost breaking Hanabi's arm during the Jyuken training, Kurenai decided it was time to step in.

"Hinata…I know why you are doing this …" She said, once after training at the training grounds.

Hinata frowned at the ground.

"What happened to him wasn't fair..." Kurenai said her eyes filled with concern, "I have always known how you have felt about him... there is nothing you can do to change what had happened. You have to move on."

"Move on?" Hinata looked at her incredulously.

Kurenai sighed. "I know how har-"

"Naruto-kun was everything to me…" Hinata snarled, "He defined me…he is the reason Neji-Nii-san respects me now…" She activated her byakugan, furious. "He is the real reason for my growth as a Kunoichi, not you!" She spat venomously. "He is the reason I lived for…and they took him away from me…"

She turned and walked away, hot hears flowing down her cheeks.

It was not long before the Hyuuga clan realized that, someone like Hinata who is now turning out to be a disgrace on the name of Hyuuga, is not fit to be the heiress of the prestigious clan. The Hyuuga council overruling the protests of Hyuuga Hiashi had decided to administer the caged bird seal on her.

Neji informed Kurenai that Hinata was silent and willing throughout the entire process. They not only put the caged bird seal on her, they even sealed away her Byakugan. "Your actions have shamed the Hyuuga."

Hyuuga Hidori had said, not even trying to hide his victorious smirk. "But, not to worry. You are no longer one." He activated the seal.

Hinata didn't scream. Only her gritted teeth and the vein throbbing on her forehead were the signs that she was feeling pain.

Since, she was no longer a Hyuuga, Hinata had moved out of the Hyuuga clan compound. And of all the places, she had moved into Naruto's old apartment, which was now covered in several layers of dust.

Only a week later, there had been an assassination attempt on her in the apartment, only for it to go awfully wrong. Kurenai had a strong hunch that Hyuuga Hidori was behind it. The assassin, who was Hidori's firstborn son was found dead the next day in the apartment with no sign of Hinata. He died of a Jyuuken strike to the heart.

The most curious and frightening thing off all was that Hyuga Hiroshi, the would-be assassin, who belonged to the main branch - had a caged bird seal etched on his forehead. And unlike regular caged bird seals which were green, it was red…

Immediately, Hyuuga Hinata was declared extremely dangerous and was ranked as an A-rank missing-nin of Konoha.

That was when Kurenai realized that she had failed her student.

Kurenai opened the door to the Hokage's office and stepped in. Her team was already assembled. From behind the desk piled with paper work, Obito looked at her and smiled. "Good. You're here, Kurenai." He stood up and lazily made a half tora seal. The door closed shut and the silencing seals spread across the office.

Obito's casual smile vanished and he turned serious. "We have no time to waste." He started. "We have a general idea where Naruto's accomplices might be hiding and we must move fast. Yes, your official mission is to deliver a scroll to one of Jiraiya's spies, but your real mission is to find Hyuuga Hinata and Osugi Tatsuya and to capture them. I'll have an ANBU team near the town as your back up."

The members of team Kurenai gave stiff nods.

"You will proceed with extreme caution, and Yuhi Kurenai will be the team leader for the mission."

"What about Naruto?" Sasuke asked, trying to keep curiosity from his voice.

"If you find him, do not engage directly, the same goes for Sabaku no Gaara. Give a distress call from the Jiraiya's special beacon seals and wait for back up."

Kiba frowned. "What if we have no time for back up?"

Obito turned to the window. "Then you shall abort the mission."

"What? Why?"

Obito sighed.

"Why?" Shino said to Kiba, a frown in his voice. "Because we will be dealing with S-Rank criminals who are not to be taken lightly. If we ignore the terms of our missions and Uzumaki's and Gaara's past actions, we will

be most likely dead. It is safe to assume that they have grown to an even stronger level. We are only the reconnaissance of this mission, not the direct confrontation. We are being assigned under this mission mainly because of our tracking and information extracting skills."

Kurenai smiled proudly. At least one of her students grew the right way.

Obito turned to Kiba. "He saved me the speech. But, I will say again, to you, Kiba and Sasuke. Yes, even you Sasuke." He added when Sasuke looked surprised. "Do not engage the enemy. I know Hinata and

Naruto were your friends once, but now they are the enemy. Do not think, not even for a second that they still are your friends, because they will not treat you the same way, that I guarantee you."

There was silence in the room for a few seconds.

"You will not speak of the particulars of the real mission, especially inside the village, unless absolutely necessary. You are to leave immediately. Dismissed."

Team Kurenai turned and walked to the door as Obito turned off the seals.

"Sasuke…" the Godaime said.

Sasuke paused in the doorway and looked at Obito.

"Good luck."

Sasuke nodded and stepped out.

* * *

**Wrong Day to Die**

**死ぬ間違っ日**

(Shinu machiga~tsu-bi)

* * *

**Somewhere near Tsuchi no Kuni Borders**

Aburame Shindo screamed in agony as the chidori current spread through his entire body, and suddenly just as it came, it stopped. Panting, he looked into the cerulean blue eyes of Uzumaki Naruto, who looked like he was rather enjoying himself.

"Tatsuya." Naruto said, and a young bespectacled kunoichi stepped into the light and walked towards them. Naruto stepped away from Shindo as Tatsuya healed him.

Shindo gritted his teeth as the warmth spread through his body. His eyes from behind his broken sunglasses switched from Naruto to Tatsuya to the white haired pale shinobi in the shadows. His wounds were slowly closing, but the pain still remained. It was an old torture game used in Root where the beaten up victim was fully healed to get beaten up again.

It was stupid of him to fall into such a silly trap. But, he couldn't blame himself. Naruto used a strange Jutsu on him earlier that made him cut off his contact with his Kikaichu. And without his bugs the Aburame was

powerless. It didn't take more than half a second for the white haired Kaguya to subdue him.

"So, you really left Root too…" Naruto said. "My, my..."

"It had been seven years…" The Aburame said weakly as Tatsuya steeped away from him.

"So, you were not involved in Danzo's plan? Not even when you attacked my team in Diro three years ago?"

"…no."

Naruto stepped forward.

"GYAAAAAAAAAHHH!" He screamed as pain raced through his body. "NO! NO! I SWEAR!"

The pain stopped.

Shindo was surprised as anyone would be when he saw Naruto. When Naruto disappeared after last being seen at the final valley, it was like he was wiped off the face of earth. And suddenly three years later he comes across him and was taken prisoner by him, and here he was desperately hoping all these years that Naruto was truly dead.

This Naruto was not like the Naruto he remembered. Innocent, troublesome, attention seeker and powerless– a completely useless Jinchuriki. Naruto had grown taller. He let his blond hair grow a bit making the bangs flank his face. Underneath the black cloak he wore, Shindo caught a glimpse of a high-collared orange jacket.

When he had opened his eyes he found himself in an abandoned building, with one window from where the sunlight fell showing the countless floating dust mites. He was chained to a wall with chakra sucking seals and before him stood Naruto, the Kaguya and a girl wearing glasses.

"Fine. So, do you know where Orochimaru is right now?" Naruto asked.

"Akatsuki…I think…"

"Orochimaru left the Akatsuki two months ago…"

"I didn't kno- GYAAAAAAHH!"

Naruto's grin widened as the Missing-nin Aburame screamed. The blue-white flickering light from the chidori current made ghostly shadows flicker on Naruto's face.

"The truth?"

The current stopped and the Aburame stopped screaming. Leaned his head back to the wall he was chained to. He was sweating profusely and, his fingers and eyes twitching involuntarily. His hair stood on its ends.

"You know…Tatsuya here can cast a genjutsu on you and make you spill all the beans in a matter of seconds…" Naruto smiled impishly. "But you gotta admit…my way is much more fun…"

Shindo's eyes behind the glasses darted to Tatsuya, pleading. Tatsuya remained impassive and silent but the other member of Naruto's group- the bone user - spoke in a smooth and deep voice

"Naruto…we aren't getting anywhere with this." He said, leaning by the window. "Just let Tatsuya find out what he knows, kill him and let's get out of here."

Naruto turned a pouting face to him. "You take all the fun out of my life, Kimmimaro." He stood up and took a few steps back grinning at the captive. "You're now wishing that you should've killed me three years ago

that day aren't you, Shindo?"

Shindo didn't reply. His head was lowered in resignation and didn't even try to fight the genjutsu that Tatsuya was placing him in.

Naruto walked over to Kimmimaro, wiping off the fake grin and face turning impassive. "Well?" He whispered

Kimmimaro folded his arms over the black hooded cloak he wore and whispered back "I just got a message through Gaara's sand. Jiraya's spy was found dead. Konoha knows that you are making your move…

Danzo's not gonna sit by idly…"

"Good." Naruto nodded.

"One more thing…Hinata and Haku screwed up. They blew up their cover in Shukuba."

"And?"

"If they send a tracking team, Konoha can pinpoint where we are exactly."

Kimmimaro was taken aback as Naruto gave a smile. "Things couldn't be more perfect. Looks like those two did something of use after all, unintentionally though…"

The bone user was baffled. "What?"

"Kimmimaro, I've told you about my past. If they send a tracking team who do you think they'll send?"

Kimmimaro screwed his brows and pondered for a few seconds. "Team Kurenai?"

"Looks like you're gonna meet Sasuke sooner than you thought."

"If he's anything like Orochimaru-sama and you told me…we dare not underestimate him…" Kimmimaro's eyes flickered outside the window, as though expecting Konoha ANBU to come rushing in any second.

"Naruto…" He whispered as his eyes fell on Tatsuya at the end of the room. She was holding a half tora seal before the blabbering captive. "I don't think I trust her."

Naruto leaned beside Kimmimaro and followed his gaze. "She said the same about you."

Kimmimaro raised an eyebrow, but did not elaborate.

"Don't worry." Naruto said. "I trust her with my life."

Suddenly, Naruto, Kimmimaro and across the room – Tatsuya stiffened as they felt a suppressing chakra presence. All at one they jerked their heads towards the window.

"We've got a real problem." Kimmimaro whispered as he looked out.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as two figures came into view. One of them was considerably taller than other and had a humongous sword strapped on to his back. They wore black cloaks with red clouds.

Tatsuya ran to Naruto's side and looked at the Akatsuki, horrified. "Naruto! lets go now! it's him! He found us!"

Naruto smirked lightly, his eyes on the shorter of the two. "Looks like Shisui-senpai is here to give me another lecture."

* * *

**A few miles east of Shukuba Town**

"Are you sure we are in the right place?" Haku asked as he looked around.

They were in the abandoned section of Tanzaku town.

"In here." Hinata opened a side-door of a building and stepped in. Shrugging, Haku followed her in.

It took a few seconds for their eyes to adjust to the darkness. And slowly a very dusty room came into view.

"Seriously, are you sure that we are in the right place?" Haku repeated, looking around. In his opinion this place didn't look the sort where million Ryo deals took place. But, then again it was a Black market bounty meeting place, so it was necessary to be discreet.

Hinata had activated her byakugan and looked around and finally her eyes stopped on an empty barrel.

Walking towards it, she whacked it once. And to Haku's surprise the barrel yelled and there was a puff of smoke and a small, timid looking man materialized inside the barrel.

"Your jutsu was good." Hinata nodded approvingly. "But not good enough. Now give us our ten million ryo so that we can get out of this dump."

The man looked lost until his eyes fell on the red seal on Hinata's forehead. "Oh." He realized and suddenly his timid nature vanished and a businessman look appeared on his face. Stepping out of the barrel smoothly,

the man gave a light bow. "Hyuuga Hinata…it really is an honor to be in your presence. I've never even dreamed that I'd have the great… "

As Haku saw the frown deepen by the second on Hinata's face, he realized that it was time to step in before Hinata realizes that the poor blabbering man would be of better use dead.

" …you must realize what – "

"Ahem…" Haku cut in. "We are pleased and all too, but we are in a hurry. So why don't you give us the money so that we can be on our way?" He smiled hopefully.

"Certainly." The man bowed gain.

Haku sighed in relief. No need to use violence to knock sense into a man, as long as you've got silver tongue, right?

"But, where is the body?" The man looked genuinely surprised.

Oh boy…Haku thought as Hinata's byakugan flared.

* * *

**Shukuba Town**

Shino held his finger close to his eyes as a bug buzzed and slowly landed on it. "Hmm…Hinata was definitely here. There are faint traces of her chakra. Kiba sniffed the air and gagged briefly. "God! Just how much perfume do people wear here?" He made chocking sounds, clutching his throat. Akamaru whined, apparently having the same problems.

Team Kurenai had arrived at Subaku an hour ago, it took them only an hour travel here from Konoha.

After having a murder in the busiest section of the city, the local law keepers were glad to have a few shinobi to help them. Kurenai and Sasuke were allowed to talk to the man who claimed he'd seen Hinata. Sasuke

after staring into the man's eyes with his Sharingan, nodded. "It's definitely her."

One of Shino's bugs landed on his finger and a second later he called out. "Found her!"

Kurenai and Saskue were by his side in a second.

"Goof..." Kiba said, pinching his nose closed. "lebs get ow of id 'am face!"

Team Kurenai started out of the town with Shino in the lead.

They didn't notice a pair of hate filled eyes follow them out.

* * *

"Finally!" Hinata exclaimed as she heaved up the heavy suitcase with relative ease.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Hinata-san, Haku-san." The broker smiled pleasantly as he wiped off the nosebleed from his recently punched nose.

"Well…good to know." Haku replied, unsure. He followed Hinata out of the building. "So," He said eyeing the heavy suitcase. "I should've asked first, but what are we going to do with all that money?"

"Send it to Wave." Hinata replied like that was the most obvious thing.

Haku nodded. Though the bridge was complete in Wave and Gato was no longer around, the economy of Wave was still down after Gato had sucked off everything they had. It would be good to give them a boost.

"So…to Wave then…"

"Yeah…Tatsuya's gonna bitch about it, but I don't give a damn. Now come here and help me carry this." She shoved the case into a surprised Haku's arms. "Oof!"

"That's better!" She grinned.

Haku frowned at her from behind and slowly it melted and a soft smile appeared on his face. Over the years Haku had outgrown his feminine looks, his hair was cut till it was shoulder length and was tied into a ponytail, his face showed signs of masculine hair growth, though his voice was still soft, it had slight baritone ring to it.

Haku and Hinata still had their hunter-nin masks, the only reminder of their time with Momochi Zabuza.

Two years ago, Zabuza was very surprised when Hinata just walked into their hideout looking for something or someone called 'Naruto'. After Zabuza denied he had any fishcakes, he demanded how she got in despite the traps and the genjutsu. Hinata, answered by activating her Byakugan an attacking him.

A few minutes later Zabuza simply smiled as he observed Hinata trying to stand up to face him again.

That day Zabuza gained a new apprentice and Haku gained a friend. Someone else to live for.

"Hyuuga-san!"

Haku and Hinata stopped and turned towards the broker who was standing outside waving a paper at them.

"Here's your receipt!"

"Receipt?" Haku scoffed. "That's odd…"

"Whatever." Hinata muttered and started towards the man and snatched the paper from him.

Shrugging, she walked towards Haku. Slowly her face turned serious and suddenly threw the paper away and jumped away from it. "Haku, back! It's a trap!"

A sizzling noise filled the air and Haku smelled smoke. There was a deafening explosion and a huge fireball shot slowly into the sky. The shockwave sent Haku flying. The briefcase smashed open and the money flew around. Blowing around like leaves in high winds. "HINATA!" He yelled.

He heard a muffled scream and before he could run to help her, he heard a buzzing sound. He looked up to see a swarm of insects coming down on him at an alarming speed. Thinking fast and in quick succession running through a series of one-hand seals he formed a Crystal Ice mirror and melted into it. Inside the safety of the mirror he formed another mirror where he last saw Hinata and with the speed of light raced out from it,

just in time to face a pair of red eyes. Haku distinctly heard his mirrors shatter as the genjutsu took effect on him. He absently noted someone place a hand on him. He suddenly jerked active as he received chakra, cutting off the genjutsu.

"Uchiha Sasuke." He heard Hinata snarl behind him.

Half of Hinata face was burnt red, but not too serious. Her hair was burnt on one side, making it crisp and hard. However, with the byakugan blazing and the red seal on her head glowing, that made her look even more scary.

"Hello, Hinata." A smooth voice answered. "You're slipping. I thought you'd actually look through the exploding tag."

"Don't look into his eyes." Hinata whispered into Haku's ear. "He has the Sharingan."

Haku nodded and locked his gaze on the pair of feet standing before him. Zabuza trained him to fight without looking into the opponent's eyes, in case he came across an Uchiha or Hatake Kakashi. Narrowing his eyes at the feet, Haku waited for movement.

"It looks like my old team is here too. Hi, Shino-kun! It's been a while" Hinata said, grinning sickly at the hooded insect user. "I barely recognized you with the hood and all."

Shino didn't reply.

"Hyuuga Hinata." A cold, female voice came behind her. Hinata turned to face a serious Yuhi Kurenai. "You will surrender peacefully and come with us as our prisoner or we will take you and your partner down by force."

The explosion had taken out the building they had been in, not to mention making a decent sized crater on the ground. The money was raining all over the area, the hot winds making them dance in mid-air.

Hinata noticed Kiba and Akamaru on the roofs, one on her either side, surely for their combo attacks. She and Haku stood back-to-back as the enemy surrounded him.

Sasuke flicked out a tiny scroll from the weapons pouch and with a wave of his hand he spread it on the ground and stamped in the middle. "ANBU'll be here soon." He replied blankly, the Kanji on the scroll glowed green.

"Surrender, Hinata. You can't take down all of us!" Kiba yelled, his voice strangely thick. Akamaru barked, probably implying the same.

"You guys haven't changed at all!" Hinata laughed, as she evaluated the situation. With Sasuke's sharingan,

Kurenai's genjutu, Kiba and Akamaru's combo attacks and Shino's bugs flying overhead. They were certainly boxed in.

Even with Haku's crystal ice mirrors, they cant get far. Team Kurenai had the tracking advantage. "Haku."

She whispered. "It's me they want…you go, now…"

Haku narrowed his eyes, suddenly angry. "I'm not leaving you."

"No!" Hinata whispered hoarsely. "You heard Sasuke! ANBU will be here soon! Find Naruto! Come back with help!"

Before Haku could reply a rumbling sound filled the air, and suddenly a huge pair of sand arms came out of nowhere and grabbed each of them and pulled away.

Alarmed, the members of Team Kurenai sped towards the direction of the huge arms and stopped a as they saw who the new visitor was.

Sabaku no Gaara, stood a few meters away his hands apart, controlling the sand floating out of the gourd that was strapped to his back. The huge sand arms dumped Haku and Hinata at his feet and dissolved. The duo sprang up facing him. "Gaara?"

Gaara glared at Hinata. "One week!" He hissed, his eyes blazing with hate. "We told you two to stay still for one week! And now you bring Konoha on our backs!?"

"Gaara…I…" Haku muttered.

"Shut up!" He looked past them to see the Konoha shinobi assemble. "Sasuke is here." He noted. He looked back at Hinata and then at Haku. "Go to the Secondary base in the Land of Rivers. I'll join you after I take care of them."

"We can help you!" Hinata protested.

"Shut up, and for once - do as said!"

Grumbling, Hinata and Haku took off in the direction of the base. Gaara stepped to face the Konoha Shinobi.

His eyes switched from one to other. Jumping on the floating sand that collected before him, he rose into the air, looking down at them. "I'll make this quick." He promised holding out his palm wide. It will not be very long before ANBU showed up.

Suddenly the sand around Team Kurenai rose and surrounded them, quickly shaping into a huge dome about fifteen feet with them in between.

Damn it! Sasuke thought fervently, looking around at the solidifying sand. Kiba and Akamaru tried the gatsuga attacks on the walls, drilling deep, but the walls simply filled themselves up.

Outside, in the air as Gaara slowly folded his palm, foot long spikes of sand grew inside from every part of the dome.

Kurenai's eyes darted, searching for a weak spot, throwing tagged Kunai that blasted sections of the sand.

But it was simply useless since the dome healed itself. Shino was trying a kikaichu-style gatsuga trying to drill a hole.

"Damn it!" Sasuke screamed as he thrust a rasengan into the wall, drilling a hole into it. As he pulled his arm back, in a blink of an eye the hole was filled again. A chirping noise filled the air and he slashed a chidori at the wall with almost no results. With his sharingan, Sasuke noticed that the chakra in the sand was not the same as Gaara's. It was stronger and more intense. Gaara must be using the bijuu chakra.

Outside, Gaara suddenly folded his fist and hundreds of the sand-spikes shot towards the Konoha-nin. Garra smiled as he sensed the spikes impale.

* * *

"I'll go meet them." Naruto informed.

Tatsuya looked at him with disbelieving eyes.

"Meet them!? Naruto, they're Akatsuki!"

"I got this. You and Kimmimaro go to the Land of Rivers hideout."

"Are you insane!?" Tatsuya screeched. "They want the Kyuubi!"

"Tatsuya!" Naruto said, almost shouting. "Go! I promise I'll meet you there tonight!"

Kimmimaro and Tatsuya exchanged dark looks. "I hope you know what you are doing, Naruto." Kimmimaro

said before they darted out of the back door giving Naruto a last look.

"Yeah…" Naruto looked outside at Uchiha Shisui. "Me too…"

He formed a half tora seal and contacted Gaara.

* * *

Gaara's sand dome slowly crumbled and fell. From the sky Gaara searched for the signs of the bodies of the Konoha shinobi. He imagined Naruto's reaction of surprise after he informs him that he killed Uchiha Sasuke.

His eyes caught something glowing below the settling dust clouds where the dome once stood. As the dust settled slowly Gaara's eyes widened at the sight he saw.

A humongous incomplete skeleton surrounded the Konoha group who were very much alive. The skull's empty eye sockets glowed yellow, and it had an eeire skeletal grin on it's face, and one long horn to the right side on the skull. It was incomplete except from over the waist, a strange red fire like chakra surrounded it and one of its arms was missing. Gaara could see several sand spikes impaled on it. In the center, panting, on one knee was Uchiha Sasuke. His hands were clutched over his eyes. Slowly Sasuke's fingers parted and Gaara stared at a strange pair of eyes. Three, red, inter crossing ellipses surrounded each of the eyes pupils.

Blood slowly tricked down his cheek from one of his eyes.

The other Konoha shinobi were as surprised as Gaara was. He recalled Naruto telling him his fight at the final valley with Sasuke and now realized why Naruto considered him special.

_Mangekyo Sharingan_. He recalled.

His eyes fell on the chakra glowing skeleton that was slowly fading away.

_Susano'o…_

As he watched the skeleton fade way completely and Sasuke fall on his knees, he didn't need an expert to tell him that Susano'o took a heavy toll on Sasuke's chakra.

As he called his sand to do his bidding once more and surrounded the helpless shinobi yet again, Naruto spoke in his head.

Below on the ground, leaning heavily against a surprised Kiba, Sasuke struggled to look at Gaara. He distinctly felt his sight blur and knew he was one step closer to losing his light completely. He was surprised as Gaara's sand that was once more surrounding them, slowly fell away.

Gaara was looking to his side, frowning and muttering.

Sasuke, with his sharingan read the word 'Naruto'. Gaara suddenly met Sasuke's eyes with distaste and unease. "Sorry…" He said, frowning. "It's your wrong day to die…" blinking once, and frowning deeper, he set off in the other direction, his sand collecting in his gourd.

* * *

**~ To be Continued ~**


	5. Ch4: The Genin Days: Part - I

**Chapter Four**

* * *

**Hokage Tower**

**T**he morning in Konoha had dawned clear and wet, with a cloudy and rumbling sky that hinted the beginning of the monsoons. The council had begun early, at daybreak with the Uchiha. There were thirty in all at the meeting, and Kakashi was one of them, nervous as any other.

A palpable tension clung in the air as the members at the meeting took their seats. All the Uchiha clan elders and the Konoha council of advisors were present. The Sandaime Hokage took the seat first and the others sat down after him. Homura, Koharu, Danzo were present from the council of advisors. From the Uchiha clan were the elders Setsuna, and Kagami, and the captain of the military police Fugaku and his deputy Takeshi. The clan leaders of other clans of Konoha were seated at the table. The sannin were also present, and for once Jiraiya looked absolutely serious. The others that were present were Jounin commander Shikaku and a few ANBU commanders.

Two ANBU closed the doors to the meeting room. The silencing and anti-spying seals spread over the room as soon as they were shut, like black ribbons slithering over the floors and walls of the room, and slowly they disappeared, sinking into the walls, the floor and the ceiling.

The Sandaime Hokage cleared his throat, leaning forward he spoke. "Good morning to all." He paused. "I will be clear. This meeting is being held to make a few changes in the governing sector of Konohagakure and…to select a suitable candidate for the position of the Godaime Hokage. I will be straight and short."

The members at the table nodded, their eyes fixed on the Sandaime.

"Firstly, to clear the differences between the Konoha and the Uchiha clan, I will propose a few changes…"

Danzo sat straight back on his chair, his visible eye slowly narrowed.

"Firstly, to appoint a member from the clan into the council of Advisors…"

A few pockets of confused murmurs were heard, but they quickly subsided when the Sandaime spoke. "I propose that my good friend, Uchiha Kagami will be an invaluable addition to the council."

Uchiha Kagami smiled and Danzo sat back, slightly relieved. For a moment he thought that Hiruzen was going to announce Setsuna.

A short vote was held to see those in favor, and Kagami won the majority with the council, the Uchiha and other shinobi giving in his favor. Orochimaru, who was one of those who didn't vote, simply smiled.

"It's decided then." There was a brief applause.

The Uchiha, Kakashi noticed were looking happy, but, he knew very well that appointing a council member won't stop the Coup d'teat. Kagami was not involved in the inner circles of the Uchiha, because he was too close to the sandaime.

A brief discussion was held about this change and the duties of Uchiha Kagami were made aware.

"And, secondly." The sandaime spoke. "The next Hokage…will also be an Uchiha…"

Deathly silence filled the room, before it erupted into confusion.

"Hiruzen…" Danzo hissed. "What are you doing?"

Homura and Koharu were having a deep discussion of their own, they were frowning and shaking their heads.

The clan heads started to argue. Hiashi was frowning deeply.

The ANBU guards, camouflaged over the ceilings and near the walls stiffened, fearing any violent reactions from the members and ready to jump in one the danger presented itself.

The Uchiha were confused, then slowly realizing that things are finally working out in their favor, suddenly looked triumphant.

It was surely going to be Fugaku, Setsuna thought. He himself was too old for the position and Takeshi, strong though, was not exactly a favorite in the village.

"He has finally gone senile…" Tsundae said quietly to Jiraya and Orochimaru from the corner of her mouth. "Too bad, Oro…I was rooting for you this time."

"Really?" Orochimaru asked, still not taking his eyes off the ruckus in the meeting.

"The devil you know…"

"Silence!" The Hokage bellowed. He glared at the council members and the sannin pointedly. "Some of you present here were my friends…students…I hope that you will trust my judgment on this one…"

Danzo slowly widened his eyes as he realized where Hiruzen was heading. Jiraiya's lip slowly curled into a smile. "That sly fox…he knows what he's doing…" the toad sannin turned to his teammates and whispered. "Vote for the Uchiha."

"All those in favour?"

The Jubliant Uchiha were first to give in their vote. Shikaku smiled as he slowly raised his hand. Seeing this the other jounin and ANBU gave in their vote, so did the sannin, Hotaru and Homura half-heartedly gave in. Danzo didn't vote and a few other clan leaders didn't vote.

Fugaku narrowed his eyes suspiciously; he had expected mores resistance from the other members. This was going well…too well…

He turned to Setsuna who had his arm raised and who also looked confused at the favor towards the in the room voted for the Uchiha Hokage. This was Unexpected. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine Konoha willingly giving the top seat to the Uchiha.

"Done." The Sandaime declared. "Respected councilors…" An ANBU fell from the ceiling and landed in a crouch beside the Sandaime. "I give you the Godaime…" He waved at the Hawk-masked ANBU who slowly stood upright.

Kakashi gasped.

Fugaku frowned. And slowly as the ANBU took of his mask and showed his triumphant and half-covered face at the Uchiha, chaos emerged.

"Not him!" Takeshi screeched, standing up suddenly that his chair clattered to the ground.

"Anyone but him!" Setsuna raged. "Fugaku is a much better candidate!"

Fugaku turned his raging eyes all around the table to see smiling and victorious faces. Even Kagami! They knew! He gritted his teeth so hard that the grinding noise filled his head, drowning out the shouting voices. They knew!

This meeting had changed nothing, he decided. The coup d'état is still on. The Uchiha shall truly reclaim Konoha! His angry eyes fell on Uchiha Obito, involuntarily activating the Sharingan.

There were swishing sounds in the air as at least a dozen ANBU landed from the ceiling or melted out of the walls. A dozen smooth metallic noises as they drew their swords out quieted the raging ruckus.

Setsuna shifted his eyes around at the attack –ready ANBU and finally landed on the Sandaime. "He is a worthless, orphaned brat!" He spat. He turned his eyes to Obito. "You are no Uchiha! You are not fit to carry that name!"

Obito slowly turned to Setsuna, his eye morphing into sharingan. "You can go ahead and mock me , Setsuna-dono." He said darkly. "But first," He leaded forward, his hand resting on the table. His sharingan fixed on Setsuna slowly morphed, the tomoes swirled and extened to the pupil and the tips slowly straightened. The mangekyo Sharingan pierced into Setsuna's eyes. "You shall address me as Hokage-sama."

* * *

**The Genin Days:**

**Part-I**

下忍期間- パート- 1

(Genin Kikan Pāto - 1)

* * *

**Ninja Academy**

Just four years after the Kyuubi rampage, there was an attack on Konoha by a group of missing-nin, one of whom was a former member of the twelve guardians of Hi no Kuni. Many lives were lost causing severe panic and despair in the streets. The Village was boxed in a strange purple barrier. A dead army rose to battle the shinobi.

The attack though deadly, was short. It lasted for only a few hours before the Heroes came in to rescue: Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno. The Jounin commanders fought and gave their lives to win that fated battle.

Haruno Sakura had stared at her parents solemn faces that night. There were other people in their house that night too. Even the Sandaime and an old man with a cane. Her parents had smiled genuinely at her before heading out of the door.

"Stay strong, Sakura."

It was two years ago and Sakura was now six, just entering the academy.

From that day, the day her parents saved the village, the villagers acted very nice to her. They would wave at her as she passed them by on her way home. But, Sakura never made any friends. She would sit in a scheduled place at the farthest corner in the classroom, somewhere people can't look and gawk at her. She would sit there and watch Iruka sensei drone on.

The only other regular occupant of the last seats was Uzumaki Naruto, the class clown and self-proclaimed prankster. Sakura wondered if it was possible for anyone to be so happy and carefree like Naruto. She thought he must have nice and caring parents…a family…something she was currently deprived of.

Later, Sakura found out that she was wrong. Naruto was an orphan like her too, yet they seemed to be poles apart. Sakura wondered if Naruto ever knew about his parents.

Sakura was wrong again. Naruto felt sad too. Everyday. After the academy, he would sit on the lone swing every day, clutching the rope and staring sadly at the ground. But, unlike her the villagers didn't wave or smile at Naruto. For some reason they would get suddenly withdrawn and turn away like they'd seen something horrible and disgusting.

Sakura wondered why…

* * *

Naruto sat on the swing and stared sadly at his hovering feet, thinking. If only he'd beaten Sasuke at the spar, he'd be finally acknowledged. But, he just _had _to lose his head and charge blindly at the teme. It was so humiliating. Sasuke had beaten him every day since he joined the academy. But, by this time he still haven't got used to it.

He stopped the train of thought, wondering the reason why he wanted to be acknowledged and why the villagers hated him He had categorized that question as one of the mysteries of the universe. He'd welcome an abuse at least, but they won't even _look _at him!

Giving himself a quick shake he came back to the matter at hand: How to beat Sasuke and wipe off the smug look on his face.

As he sat pondering, he felt a shadow on him and his eyes register a pair of feet on the ground. He looked up to see Haruno Sakura, smiling shyly at him.

"Hi."

It took a few moments for Naruto to register that someone from his class was actually talking to him willingly. Haruno Sakura, at that! The daughter of Heroes!

"Hi." Naruto replied, hesitantly.

Sakura shifted on her feet uncomfortably. She held out her lunch box. "I have onigiri."

Naruto looked lost and finally after a few seconds, gave a bright wide grin. Only this time…it was genuine…

* * *

**One Month later**

**Uchiha Military Police HQ**

"You underestimate Uchiha Obito." Fugaku said to Takeshi. "He half destroyed us, by now."

The meeting was at the Uchiha military headquarters, which was half-deserted by now. A few sleepy guards stayed in their positions.

An angry Uchiha Setsuna denied attending the meeting and said he had more important business to do that moping about defeat.

"Don't you see?" Takeshi said. "He is filtering all the gifted Uchiha. Sending them on long term missions. Akemi was our source at Konoha Intel, now he sent her on a two– year mission to Suna…same with Rideki…" He chortled without humour. "He's closing in on us."

"That blood traitor…" Ridoru said. "He even has the Mangekyo." he was very tempted to read the secrets of the Mangekyo on the Uchiha stone tablet, but his commitment to the old laws made him hesitate.

"Well…" Himora - a round faced Uchiha, said. "At leat he posted a few Uchiha in the ANBU, if we wait a while maybe we can get information from them."

"It's no use…they'll be watched…" Fugaku frowned. "And also he insisted that all ANBU personnel should stay at the ANBU quarters…there's no way they are getting back. Even their loyalties might change." Fugaku didn't believe he was going to say it. "We're lost."

"Not yet."

The voice had come out of nowhere. The Uchiha's jerked from their positions and locked their eyes on the speaker: Danzo.

"Danzo?"

Danzo was smiling. The war hawk looked around at the shocked Uchiha. "I could commit you for treason for attempting a coup d'état and have you all executed." He smiled.

"Are you seriously threatening us?" Uchiha Takeshi growled.

"I believe I am."

There was a ringing silence in the room.

"If that truly is your intention, then we'd all be rotting in cells by now." Fugaku said stiffly "Why are you really here?"

Danzo slowly turned his head to him, his face unreadable. His narrowed brown eye met Fugaku's Sharingan "I think you could use an ally."

* * *

**Uchiha Clan Compund**

"Take that!" Sasuke's clear voice carried into the house followed by multiple thumps of shuriken on wood. His gleeful cheer a second later told that his kunai met their targets.

Itachi smiled and turned his head to the side where Sasuke's voice came from, his ears perking up to hear more of his innocent little brothers joyous shouts. This happy moment was interrupted by clearing of a throat.

Itachi looked across the table into his father's eyes. His father stared back; his eyes told that he was angry…very angry.

They were sitting across each other on the floor, cross-legged in the meeting room

"Itachi." He spoke with suppressed rage. "I will speak plainly now." He took a deep controlling breath. "Konoha betrayed the Uchiha yet again…humiliated it…the burden of the clan's honor falls entirely on you. Your presence in the ANBU will a great benefit to the clan. But, this time you must burden yourself with more responsibilities than being just a spy."

"No."

"Excuse me?" Fugaku looked incredulous.

"You met your desired goals at the meeting, Tou-san…" Itachi spoke impassively, bottling up his anger and resentment building inside him. "What more can the Uchiha possibly want now?"

"No! The Uchiha certainly did not meet its goals!" He slammed his fist on the table. "Kagami was a back stabber and Uchiha Obito is a traitor!"

"Aren't we all?" Itachi said coldly. The Uchiha clan will never be satisfied, he thought grimly. A bunch of traitors who cling on to pathetic non-existent things such as honour and clan. He tightened his fists as he locked his eyes with Fugaku's hard ones. He was tired of being a double agent. Tired of his clan's blind ambitions. Tired of the village's diplomacy. Tired of the game being played. Tired of being on the losing side even after fighting for the winning side.

There was another series of whizzing sounds and the sound of metal meeting wood. Sasuke's cheer cut in through the tension.

Fugaku looked casually towards Sasuke's direction. "You brother is very well talented. Isn't he?"

Itachi didn't know where this was going. "Yes, he is."

"Give him a few years and he'll turn out to be much better than you. He'll do anything for his clan, he has the zeal…the desire to prove himself…" A small smile was playing on his face. "Wouldn't you agree, Itachi?"

"You will not bring Sasuke into this!" Itachi said, his eyes burning with anger.

"Either way, it's you or him. One of you will lead this clan to victory. A day that we shall truly reclaim Konoha."

Itachi gritted his teeth. The emotionless mask that he wore shattering by the second. The years of suppressed rage and dismay finally showing up. "You will do no such thing! You will leave Sasuke out!"

"Then you do it for the clan!" Fugaku shouted. "Your legacy! The only thing that your name clings to after you die!"

"I will not leave a legacy of bloodshed and tears…" Itachi hissed.

"There will be no bloodshed, Itachi." Fugaku said, smugly. "Unless it is absolutely necessary. Konoha changed the rules of the game…so we'll change the game itself!"

Taking in a deep breath, Itachi slowly built up the impassive mask. He bowed once. "As you say, tou-san."

Change the game? Itachi thought. He wondered what Godaime-sama will make of this little meeting.

* * *

**SIX YEARS LATER**

**Ninja Academy**

Uzumaki Naruto was a genin now.

Naruto grinned at that thought. There was no doubt from the time he joined the academy that he'd become a splendid shinobi. But, even if you knew that this day would come your entire life, it is hard not to get excited when it finally shows up. It took him a great deal of control for him to keep his face straight and from grinning like a mad Cheshire cat, but he was slowly losing control.

He is a shinobi now! He had Iruka sensei to thank for that. And more importantly…Sakura-chan.

"Stop grinning that way." Sakura nudged him.

"Can't help it. Too happy."

She sighed.

Naruto had found a true friend in Sakura six years ago. He was scared at first that she was playing a nasty trick on him or maybe that her parents would drag her away from him and ask her to never speak to him again. But, no such thing happened.

Sakura was his best friend. His only friend, other than that Snake-man who bought him ramen.

The best part of his day seemed to arrive when Iruka sensei announced that Sakura was to be on his team, but that was gone when he found out who his other teammate was.

"That teme!" Naruto swore as they stepped out of the academy, He kicked a stone and sent it flying. "Off all the Genin in the classroom, I just _had _to get stuck with him!"

"Sasuke's not too bad…" Sakura said fairly.

Naruto paused and looked at her in horror. "Not too bad!? What are you now? His fan-girl or something?"

"HEY! TAKE THAT BACK!"

_Thwack!_

"OW! That hurt!"

They stepped outside the academy compound and took their usual route to Ichiraku.

Naruto had grown taller over the years. He wore an orange High collared jacket with the fishnet armour underneath. Shuriken and kunai holsters were attached to his Navy blue pants. His new Hiai-te gleamed in the sunlight, the smooth steel surface reflecting like a mirror.

Sakura wore a red qipao dress with white circular designs, with short sleeves, with a zipper, tight dark green shorts, standard ninja sandals, and a her hiai-te which she used to accentuate her face.

"So, who is this Hatake Kakashi, our sensei?" Sakura asked.

"No idea." Naruto said, nursing his head. "Let's get to Ichiraku already! I'm starving!"

Sakura sighed again. "When are you _not _starving?"

Five minutes later Naruto found himself impatiently counting down the three minutes it takes to make ramen as Sakura stared at him in a familiar sort of disapproving manner.

"I know you say that Ramen is the food of the gods, but it wouldn't hurt to have veggies once in a while..."

Naruto was spared the need to answer when a steaming bowl of pork ramen was placed in front of him.

Splitting the chopsticks and licking his lips, with an "Itadakimasu!" which Sakura thought sounded more like a battle cry, Naruto dived in.

"You're right, Sakura-chan!" Sakura muttered in a poor imitation of Naruto, as she prodded the steamy contents of her ramen with her chopsticks "I promise to eat only veggies from now!"

Naruto who was too busy inhaling the ramen didn't hear her.

When they were back in the academy, Ami and Ino – the self-declared popular girls had approached her and asked her to join their little group (a.k.a. Sasuke Fan Club). Sakura had stared at Naruto who was surprisingly reading a book in his usual seat, and then she turned back to them.

"Sorry," She said, snidely. "I have more important business to do than squealing about boys…"

"You mean _that business?_" Ino asked scathingly pointing at Naruto, who turned a page.

"What do you see in that baka, anyway?" Ami asked.

Sakura smirked. "Trust me, he's a lot better than you lot put together…and quieter than each of you…"

When she arrived later and sat beside Naruto, she noticed that he was distinctly smiling. He was reading a book about the previous Kage. Sakura saw that got his interest

She nudged him playfully. "Don't worry. I'm not gonna leave you, blondie."

"Sakura…" Naruto looked at her seriously. "Am I really that quiet?"

Sakura nodded unsure, "Yeah…yeah…"

"Try telling that to Iruka sensei, dattebayo."

* * *

**Uchiha Clan Compound**

Sasuke stepped into the Uchiha Clan compound.

Today was the day to make his family proud. He was a genin now! He didn't even let the fact that he was teamed with Naruto bother him. His forehead protector was neatly folded and placed inside his bag. He was going to wear it when his father arrives at home. He wanted it to be in clean and minty condition.

Tou-san always said he'd make him a captain in the Uchiha Police Force right after he became Chunin. There was no time to waste! He had to start training right away! He needed to enter the winter exams coming this fall in Kumo and win!

His face turned serious. He just had to keep his distance from his other teammates, and not get involved with them if he had to reach his goal in time. Maybe he'll ask Itachi to train him.

His happy stream of thought was interrupted by a deep voice. "Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke looked in the direction of Speaker and found Uchiha Setsuna beaming down at him, eyes narrowed.

"A genin already! Times sure do race along!" Setsuna said, his eyes twinkling good-naturedly down at Sasuke.

"Uh, thank you, Setsuna-sama." Sasuke said, his face flushing lightly.

His father always mentioned that Uchiha Setsuna is a powerful man and a man to be respected.

"Do you mind if I walk you home?"

"No, not at all!"

"Excellent!"

They started down the cobble stone path by the wall that displayed the Uchiha crests all the way down.

"Fugaku says you are interested in joining the Uchiha Military Police." Setsuna said, casually.

Father had been talking about him? Sasuke smiled, giddy with happiness.

"Y-yes." He stammered.

"Very good. Very good." Setsuna nodded, placing his arm on Sasuke's shoulder. "It is very rare to find someone like you, Sasuke. You exceed even Itachi in many aspects. You'd do well in the police. I know it! So, who are you teamed with?"

"Uh…Hatake Kakashi will be our sensei…and Haruno Sakura…and…uh…Uzumaki Naruto." He finished sheepishly.

"Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Yeah."

Setsuna looked deeply thoughtful. "Good." He muttered absently. "Very good…"

Sasuke felt like asking him how that was a good thing, but stopped himself.

"So, Sasuke…" Setsuna lowered his voice to a whisper. "How would you like to work for the Uchiha Police…right away?"

"I don't think that Genin are allowed to – "

Setsuna squeezed his shoulder, hard. "They are…If I say so, Sasuke-kun."

A flicker of darkness seemed to pass over Setsuna's face, but just as it came it went off, leaving Sasuke wondering if he had imagined it.

"You will do well, Sasuke-kun. You shall not disappoint us." Setsuna said seriously.

"Okay…"

"You will tell no one about this." he leaned forward and whispered in Sasuke's ear. "We will approach you when the time is necessary."

Sasuke nodded.

"Good." Setsuna hissed.

They stopped in front of Sasuke's home.

"Here you are!" Setsuna declared, losing the serious look and smiling.

Sasuke bowed to him once, before heading into the doors. "I thank you for your company, Setsuna-sama."

Setsuna gave a nod and slowly walked away.

Sasuke sild the door close and proceeded to remove his sandals, until he felt on him the eyes of his brother.

Itachi stood over him, his face worrisome and tensed. "Sasuke," He began. "What did he want from you?"

Sasuke simply shrugged, avoiding eye contact with Itachi he sat on the steps, beginning to untie his sandals. "Nothing much. Just congratulating me on becoming a Genin…which you absolutely forgot…"

Itachi chuckled. "Oh, I apologise. I have complete faith that you are going to become a really – "

"Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna be awesome. I get it."

Itachi approached him, Sasuke jerked his arm up to catch Itachi's finger going for his unguarded forehead. "Ha! You can't surprise me with that anymore! I'm a genin now!"

Itachi's other arm came forward and he flicked on Sasuke's forehead.

"Ow!"

"You have a bit more catching up to do, little brother. So first, wear your Hiai-te."

* * *

**SIX MONTS LATER**

**Road to Sunagakure**

Hatake Kakashi and his team of Genin were pacing along, in a diamond formation around a serious old man who was clutching his bag like his life depended on it. Naruto had asked the man, whose name was Amara Shizen, what was inside it. The man looked at Naruto very suspiciously before stammering "Important documents.". Naruto looked back at the man, narrowed his eyes and a second later simply shrugged.

The team was assigned a C-rank mission that involved the team, escorting Amara Shizen till the Kaze no Kuni borders in a village called Diro. From there another Sunagakure team will escort him to their village. Kakashi noted that it had been a whole three hours since they started from the village, and Sasuke and Naruto haven't yet gotten into an argument. This must be a new record.

Six months ago Hatake Kakashi had been sure that he was going to send another batch of freshly minted genin back to the academy. He never could figure out how the situation worked out, but surprisingly, the three genin had passed his bell test with flying colours.

Before, he didn't know what Obito was thinking, assigning the brother of Uchiha Itachi, the son of the Yondaime and the daughter of the Harunos under one team. It was a complete disarray of ninja resources to keep highly potential and promising ninja under one team. When Kakashi gave it a closer look in the bell-test, he realized that he had highly overestimated the abilities of the three genin.

Sasuke was an Uchiha, sure. He had the standard Uchiha movements and Uchiha family jutsus and was at the top of his graduation class. But he was nowhere as good as Itachi. Another problem was his highly inflated ego that was more than what an average Uchiha should hold. It was getting in the way of his teamwork. Kakashi decided to stomp it out.

Naruto was somewhat of a mix. When he read Naruto's report and viewed his scores at the academy. He vaguely wondered if this was Naruto's plot to hide his real skills. Minato-sensei had done the same during his academy days, but then again, that was war time. Kakashi noticed that Naruto's faulty chakra control was the main reason Naruto couldn't perform the Bunshin and other similar jutsu. The only reason Naruto graduated from the academy was that he was chosen to perform the Henge no Jutsu, which he was surprisingly good at. The only powerful jutsu in Naruto's arsenal was the Kage bunshin. Another fact was that the boy had a major secret crush on the Haruno.

Haruno Sakura was a quiet girl at the academy. 'The Daughter of Heroes' was not really good as Kakashi had thought would be. Her only talent seemed to be in books and basic genjutsu. Apart from basic Academy-style taijutsu and shuriken-jutsu she had no other taijutsu talent. Her only friend at first was Naruto.

As the months passed, his team improved. The first thing he taught his team was the basic chakra control exercises. This was proven to be a great help for Naruto. After discovering that Naruto had the elemental affinity of wind. Kakashi gave him a few basic scrolls of wind manipulation and also helped him master the Kage Bunshin. Sasuke was slowly breaking his barriers and mingling with the team, acknowledging Naruto and Sakura. But, there was still a little more work to do on that part. Sakura trained in different styles of taijutsu under him, she also expressed an interest in medical training and Kakashi and signed her a permission slip to train as an Intern under the Jounin medic Shizune after the missions.

After long months of rigorous training and a lot of D-rank and a few C-rank missions, Kakashi noted that his team was functioning perfectly well both in teamwork and strength. Well there were the usual arguments and insults, but still.

Naruto had his palms cupped together, manipulating his wind natured chakra. Kakashi noted that he must be making good use of the Wind manipulation scrolls that he'd given him. Sakura looked quiet as usual, her hand slowly travelled to the locket she wore and clutched it. Kakashi looked at Sasuke from the corner of his eyes. His face was strained and screwed up in concentration. He was sure that it was one of his attempts to 'awaken his Sharingan.' After his father absently stated that Itachi had awakened his sharingan when he was nine, Sasuke had made his first priority to activate the doujutsu, going as far as offering himself to Naruto and Sakura to be their training dummy for shuriken training.

When Kakashi arrived in training ground seven after saving a drowning cat (or so he claimed) he saw Sasuke pinned to the wooden log with shuriken and kunai making an outline around him, Sakura was aiming carefully at the log and Naruto was rolling on the ground laughing his head off and yelling "He literally asked for it! Aim for his thing, Sakura-chan! Aim for his thing!"

There was a whizzing sound of shuriken and a sound of metal piercing wood. And Sasuke who jumped just in time, spreading his legs wide to see the shuriken impale the post an inch below his pelvis. He widened his eyes as wide as saucers, but still no sharingan.

This time Sakura joined in laughter with Naruto who shouted, "My turn!"

"THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" Sasuke raged, his face going red.

"HAHAHA…Then why am I laughing? Hahaha…"

Looking at his team as they paced towards Diro, Kakashi smiled. His team had grown well. And he was very sure that nothing would break them apart.

He was wrong. He didn't know that this very mission will be the trigger for the breaking of Team Seven.

* * *

**~To be Continued~**


	6. Ch5: Old Friends, Dangerous Friends

**Chapter Five**

* * *

**Location Unknown**

**"H**ello, Naruto-kun." Shisui said from behind Naruto.

Naruto turned to face him, his eyes flicking away to contact with the sharingan. "Hello, Shisui – senpai," He greeted the Akatsuki member. "It's good to see you." He said, turning back to the window. The other Akatsuki was no longer outside. "Your friend doesn't want to come in?" He asked, wondering if Shisui's partner went after his Kimmimaro and Tatsuya.

"Unless you'd like one of your limbs chopped off. No." The curly-haired Uchiha replied.

"Why are you here?" Naruto asked. "I know that you dear _leader _didn't send you after me. In case you are slow on the uptake, you guys are to stay far away from me. Your leader and I have a deal."

"_I know."_

"Then why are you here, Shisui?" Naruto looked into his eye, daring him to use genjutsu. "I know you still work for Danzo. Even after the bastard pulled out one of your eyes."

Shisui's hand hovered absently over the bandaged tied over his face. His mind travelling bank to the time when Danzo surprised him and pulled his eye out. He could still feel the stinging pain and confusion of the moment before he teleported away to the cliff overlooking the Naka River.

"Everyone was ready to believe you betrayed the village and joined Akatsuki. But, not me. I know you better than anyone. Even more than Danzo. This must be one of his 'You-should-do-anything-to-protect-Konoha-schemes' and like the obedient little boy you are…you bought it. So tell me the truth, is living a lie good so far?"

"My old life wasn't particularly bright either."

Naruto smirked. "So they smoked you out Instead of Itachi…"

"Itachi…" Shisui started to pace slowly around the room. "Made his point that he wasn't loyal anymore to the Uchiha…or the Root."

"Where is he now?" Naruto asked, strangely curious.

Shisui gave a short laugh. "How would I know that?"

"You are Akatsuki. You seem know everything." He said, gesturing around, "You knew where I was…"

"Naruto…" Shisui's voice took on a serious turn. He stopped in his stride and turned to face him. "I don't know what you are planning." He paused, frowning deeper. "You are dealing with dangerous people…how did you in the first place get in contact with leader of Akatsuki? Even your friends seemed not to know about it, the way they were running on seeing us with their tails between their legs."

"That's…none of your business."

"What did he offer? Something in exchange for the Kyuubi? He would've gotten it anytime. It's something more isn't it? What did he promise you? What did you ask?"

Naruto tore his eyes away from him and looked at the ground. "For a guy who seem to know everything, you're asking a lot of questions." He smiled sadly. "I'm insulted that you are not using Kotomatsukami on me, Shisui-senpai…you still believe that I'll change, don't you?"

Shisui strode forward angrily and in a fraction of second clutched Naruto's throat, shocking him and lifting him off the ground. "Look at me!" He shouted. Naruto firmly shut his eyes. "_I_ _said look at me_!" Naruto opened his eyes a fraction at Shisui who was seething. "I'll personally see to it that you or Akatsuki don't even lay even _a finger _on Konoha..."

"_Konoha shall burn._ It's inevitable, senpai…" Naruto said, opening his eyes completely.

_Fool. _"Tsukyomi." Shisui's genjutsu bore into Naruto.

The world turned gray and red. The place was barren, with the sky painted in a bloody red hue. The misty red clouds overhead parted to reveal a crimson moon at it's full. The glow from the moon made everything seem brighter, spreading over the landscape, turning it into a beautiful place, in a dangerous sort of way.

On the red land, Shisui raised his finger at Naruto who was tied to a cross. "You don't fool yourself Naruto. You still love the village. It was where you were born, the only place in the world where you had your first ties.

"I will not use Kotomatsukami on you, I don't have to, but…you shall tell me everything..." Shisui gritted his teeth and asked the question that was nagging him for the last two years. "Who is the leader of the Akatsuki?"

He tried various ways to find out who it was but always came to a dead end. Even Kisame and the other members didn't meet him in person. Whenever he summoned the members for a meeting the only part of his face that was visible was his one eye. It was a sharingan. A stolen sharingan. "Who is he?" Shisui repeated.

Naruto remained oddly still, then Shisui noticed something else. Naruto was slowly dissolving. Dissolving into flakes of dust that were being gently carried off by the winds. Then slowly he raised his head and looked at him straight in the eye, his brilliant blue orbs dominating the red-grey sepia of this world. A light smirk appeared on his face and he winked at Shisui before dissolving completely.

Back in the dusty room, Shisui blinked once and fixed a glare at Naruto, whom he was still clutching by the throat. Throbbing pain shot through his eye at once, but he ignored it. "How did you?" He gasped, suppressing the pain. "You broke out of my Tsukyomi?"

"You're slipping, senpai..." Naruto gave his old thousand watt grin.

There was a _poof _and a burst of white smoke and an alarmed Shisui was left clutching empty air. "That was a…Kage Bunsin?" He asked the seemingly empty room. How? His sharingan could clearly see through them!

There was a swishing sound behind him and Shsui whirled around, spotting Naruto who had his eyes firmly closed, and standing by Aburame Shindo. Reflexively, Shisui shot shuriken at him with a jerk of his arm. There was a sound of metal piercing flesh and a groan of pain.

Naruto had used Shindo as a shieid and was now pulling him to his feet. Shisui saw the blood dripping from the Aburame's chest where the shuriken embedded themselves.

Before Shisui had another moment to act. Naruto had formed the seal to Shisui's signature justu, his eyes still firmly closed and grinning. With a playful "Ja ne.", he teleported away with the captive.

Suddenly the door was kicked off its hinges and Kisame strolled in casually, the Samehada blade resting on his shoulder "Now I'm starting to understand how Sasori feels." He said, carelessly looking around the room.

Scowling slightly, the former Kiri swords-man turned to Shisui. "What did I miss?"

* * *

**Old Friends, Dangerous Friends**

古い友人, 危険な友人

(Furui yūjin, Kiken'na yūjin)

* * *

_The cool breeze mixed with the fine spray of water was refreshing. The waterfall gushed ahead with a deafening roar, a thick blue-white curtain between the two gigantic statues which stood facing each other._

_His strained and burning eyes spotted a familiar figure on the head of Uchiha Madara's statue._

"_NARUTO!" He screamed from top of Hashirama's head, his voice carrying over the roar of the waterfall. His eyes suddenly throbbed again and he fell to his knees cursing. Willing the pain to go away; his palms pressed uselessly against his eyes._

_Gritting his teeth, he opened his right eye a crack, peering between the fingers; He took note of an orange blur that was slowly turning to face him._

_Placing strain of his already taxed and exhausted body, he slowly heaved himself up. Breathing heavily, he tightened his fists to control his trembling hands. He felt a something cold and thick trickle from his right eye, down the cheek and brushing against his lips; He tasted the copper of his blood._

"_Sasuke..." Naruto's cold and calm voice somehow traveled over the roar of the waterfall._

"_There has to be another way, Naruto!" Sasuke shouted._

"_No…there is no other way…"_

"_I've told Setsuna…the Root isn't far behind…"_

"_You betrayed me? Again?"_

_The water thundered below, barely hiding a chirping sound that suddenly started._

"_I had no choice!"_

"_Everything that we planned together…all those months…doesn't that mean anything to you? Did Sakura mean nothing to you?"_

"_Of course she did!"_

"_I hated you Sasuke, for what you did…but I also understand why you had no choice…But, don't you want revenge for what they did to you!? What they made you do!?"_

"_Naruto…"_

_There was a flicker in the air and Sasuke leapt forward off the statue just in time to see Naruto appear where he was standing before. His hand was outstretched, holding the chidori. He turned his head back fixing him with a red eyed, slit pupiled glare and teleported again appearing in front of him in midair. Sasuke caught his arm before he thrust the chidori. But, Naruto clutched his throat with his other arm. Locked in a deadlock with Sasuke clutching Naruto's collar with his other hand, they flopped uselessly down the air hurling into the river below. As Sasuke's eyes fell on Naruto's face, he noticed that his angry glare slowly seemed to be melting off._

_The river below was speeding towards them._

"_I can bring her back…" Naruto said._

_Time seemed to move slow as they fell down together. His world was revolving. The sky, the river, the statues swirled around switching places, but his horror filled eyes were locked on Naruto. Naruto's face slowly split into a smile, his eyes looked lost. His grip on his throat loosened, and Sasuke gulped in fresh air. Yet the chidori kept chirping, the random streaks of current hitting Sasuke's hand, making the hairs stand and skin raw. The cool drizzle hit his face, and his hair was flapping as they fell._

_The river was coming closer._

"_What?" He whispered._

"_Sakura…" Naruto said, "I can bring her back…"_

_They hit the water and he felt unbearable pain. As the jolts of pain raced through his body, he opened his mouth and started to scream._

Sasuke suddenly jerked awake, sharingan active. He tried to get up, but a the pain was unbearable, so he stayed lying. "Rest." A familiar voice commanded.

He deactivated the sharingan. "Itachi?"

His brother stood by his side smiling, his weasel ANBU mask pulled to the side of his face. Holding his finger out. He pushed Sasuke down again by poking on his forehead. "Rest, Sasuke. You're safe."

Sasuke folded his hands into a Tora seal and muttered, "Kai." Checking to see if this was a genjutsu. He learnt to do it whenever he woke up in a place he didn't remember coming to.

"Relax, Sasuke." Itachi said, standing up and walking to the window in the room and opening it. The sounds of hustle and bustle of a town reached his ears. It was evening.

So, the ANBU back up did arrive.

He was on a bed on the floor, in the corner of the room. The room had wooden floor, a tall beautiful vase stood in a corner. His right wall was covered in the traditional bamboo – paper walls, with a sliding door.

His mind instantly went back to the dream…or memories that he didn't remember until now. His memories from before always ended after Naruto turned to face him on the Statue, he remembered his red eyes and piercing of the Chidori and the next thing he remembered was waking up in a hospital with Jiraiya looking down at him.

But why is he starting to remember now? Were the seals in his mind weakening?

_I can bring her back…_What was he talking about? Some kind of revival jutsu? His heart started to race in his chest. What more is he going to remember? He was curious and at the same time scared. Scared of the fact that he might remember something unpleasant. Something disastrous. All this thinking was making his head hurt.

The sound of Itachi's footsteps broke his thoughts, realizing that he still didn't have a satisfactory explanation from his brother, he spoke. "Where am I? I was fighting Gaara…my team…" Looking at Itachi, his face suddenly took on an incredulous turn as if he suddenly remembered something. "Where the hell were you?!"

His brother had been missing for months. All he got whenever he asked Obito was that Itachi was on an extended mission.

"I was on an extended mission."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I figured. _Where?"_

Itachi ignored him. He walked to the bamboo and paper door and slid it open. "He's awake!" He called out.

There were a few tensed voices and suddenly Kiba came bursting into the room with Akamaru at his heels. He stared goggle-eyed at Sasuke for a few seconds, before giving himself a shake. "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!"

Sasuke cringed as his head throbbed, his hands on his ears. "Keep it down!"

Kurenai appeared behind Kiba shortly followed by Shino.

Even they looked troubled.

"Itachi assured me that your life is not in danger, Sasuke." Kurenai said, trying to be professional, but her eyes showed that she was concerned about him. "You should rest now."

Sasuke nodded from his bed.

He noticed that he was dressed in a simple white robe. He placed his hands on his cheek expecting to see dried blood, but his face felt cool and clean.

"We are at 'The Ronin Inn' in Tanzaku town, in case you were wondering," Shino informed. "You fainted after Gaara went away. You turned pale and – "

"We thought you were gonna die!" Kiba cut in rather loudly.

Akamaru barked, expressing his worry.

"You were all whimpering and trembling after using that…jutsu…" Kiba swallowed. "It was scary…and awesome…" He muttered to himself.

Sasuke turned to Itachi with an apologetic face. "I had no choice, Itachi. Gaara got us…he is much stronger than he was before…"

Itachi forbade him to use the Mangekyo Sharingan, which he activated three years ago. He also forbade him from telling anyone about it. But, somehow Setsuna had found out…

Itachi nodded once seriously. "I understand."

"I agree," Shino said, blankly. "I assume he must be using his bijuu's power."

The genjutsu mistress frowned. "But, why did he not kill us?" She asked, almost speaking to herself.

"Naruto," Sasuke said, drawing everyone's attention. "Naruto convinced him to spare us. I read Gaara's lips."

The room turned silent, pondering over the meaning of the action.

"Yo!"

Everyone turned to the window where the voice came from. Hatake Kakashi sat in a crouch on the window sill, waving once at the audience in the room. He was dressed in his ANBU gear and his mask was also pulled to the side. "Give him some time to rest., He announced. "The kid will have to face the top brass of the village tomorrow. It won't do well if he sleeps in front of them."

Muttering and grumbling (in Kiba's case) Team Eight left the room. Itachi stayed back, nodded once at Kakashi. "Kakashi-taichou." He said and stepped out.

Kakashi turned his eye to Sasuke. "Naruto, huh?"

"Yeah." Sasuke sighed in a defeated voice.

Kakashi always avoided the topic of Naruto and Sakura. He blamed himself of everything that happened. And thought that he wasn't cut out to be Jonin- sensei and went back to ANBU after Sasuke received his Chunin certificate and vest.

Kakashi was quiet, probably thinking of their times as Team Seven.

"Kakashi…" Sasuke suddenly said. "I'm starting to remember…"

Kakashi looked confused and after a second widened his eye.

"Not entirely." Sasuke added hastily. "I'm remembering our fight…bit by bit…"

Kakashi looked like he was he deep thought. He lifted a single finger to scratch the part of his nose peeking out of his face mask. "Did you remember anything interesting?"

_I can bring her back…_

"No," He lied, avoiding Kakashi's eye and turning on his bed to face away from him. "Nothing important."

He felt Kakashi's eye on the back of his head. But Kakashi didn't ask anything. A minute later he finally spoke. "If you want anyone to talk to…I'm always here, Sasuke…"

Sasuke nodded, still facing away. He closed his eyes firmly willing sleep to come, hoping that the memories to come - good or bad- will help him find his way to Naruto.

_Everything that we planned together…doesn't it mean anything to you?_

Jiraiya was right. He was one of Naruto's co-conspirators.

* * *

**Location Unknown**

Uzumaki Naruto almost lost his head when he teleported beside Kimmimaro. The bone-user in his alarm had slashed his white blade that was sprouting out of the palm, but it was Aburmane whom he was carrying who got the brunt of the attack.

"GYAAAH!" The Aburame screamed as a deep gash appeared on his shoulder where the sword cut.

Naruto looked wordlessly at Tatsyua who immediately went to healing the bug-user, whom Naruto laid back on the ground.

Sitting on her knees she placed her arms over the injuries and a soft green glow of chakra started to heal the cuts. Placing the fingers in the shuriken stuck to his chest she quickly pulled them out one by one despite the painful grunts, protests and curses of the chained Aburame.

With a huff she looked at Naruto with rage, her eyes Narrowed and her nostrils flared. "What the hell were you thinking, facing them alone?" She hissed viciously.

Naruto ignored her and noticed their surroundings, they were in a forest clearing still a few miles from the hideout. Kimmimaro and Tatsuya seemed to have stopped for some rest. He ran up to a random tree, chakra walking and jumping on the branches till he reached the top. Perching on the topmost branch with, he narrowed his eyes scrutinizing the distance from where he teleported.

There was a brush of leaves and a shift in the air and Kimmimaro appeared beside him, staring into the direction he was looking. "We are quite far. They won't catch up to us." He assured.

He regarded Naruto with a somewhat amused look. "That wasn't a Shushin, was it?"

"No," Naruto said, standing on the branch. "It was Shisui's special body flicker. He taught me when I was in Root."

It was a risky gamble - facing Uchiha Shisui, but he needed to know something. Shisui might think he's an intelligent and brilliant ninja, but he let something slip that caught Naruto's attention.

_Who is the leader of Akatsuki?_

So, even Shisui was blind on that. Naruto waited there for Shisui so that he could tell him that. He was trying to find out who the leader was himself. He met him twice and twice he stayed behind a mask and under the hood. His heart thumped in his chest as a sudden realization hit him. He only had three more months before the leader came for the Kyuubi…for him…

The Ichibi was the additional part of the deal and Naruto made his own arrangements in co-operation with the Akatsuki. Gaara agreed to them, but made a silent agreement with Naruto to betray the Akatsuki in the end.

So, if he wanted to confront the leader when he came for the Kyuubi, he needed it to find the all the Uzu scrolls fast. And he had to kill Danzo and Setsuna, and cripple Konoha while he was on the job.

And also Orochimaru had promised him something more…

"How did you know exactly where we were?" Kimmimaro asked suddenly.

"You could say…I made a marking similar to Yondaime's Hiraishin," Naruto explained. "But it was focused on your chakra and you were in range. Don't worry, Shisui can't sense us the same way..."

He leapt down the tree. The wind rushed past him as he hurled towards the ground, ruffling his hair and stinging his eyes. His black hooded mantle flapped as he sped towards the ground. As the ground got closer he spread his arms and landed in a crouch with a professional grace. Standing upright he walked towards Tatsyua,

Tatsuya had almost healed the Aburame, there was a sound of landing feet and Kimmimaro walked up to them.

"Tatsuya, stand back." Naruto ordered.

Tatsuya glared at him and with a "Hmph!" she stood back. Naruto walked to the Aburame and crouched beside him. Placing his palm over Shindo's head Naruto muttered something. Suddenly, glowing red lines travelled from the Aburame's head over his face, limbs and down his visible torso in strange patterns, after spreading all over the body the glowing lines of the curse seal turned to black.

Kimmimaro recognized the paralysis seal.

"What did he tell under the genjutsu?" Naruto asked Tatsuya.

Tatsuya still looked angry. "Everything we already know. Mostly about Root's Invasion, Danzo wanted the Kyuubi, he was preparing himself for it…the sealed arm with sharingan. The Uchiha massacre plan…"

"Anything in particular about _that man_?" Naruto asked, focusing on the words. A wave of anger seemed to rush past his eyes for a second.

Tatsuya glanced at Kimminaro doubtfully. She looked back at Naruto and nodded.

_At last! _Naruto widened his eyes in a savage pleasure.

"Where?"

Suddenly, Tatsuya turned to Kimmimaro and swiftly held her fingers into tora seal. Kimmimaro's eyes lost focus.

Good girl, Naruto thought.

She turned back to him, her face impassive, the light falling on her glasses, almost turning them opaque. "Kirigakure."

Naruto smiled darkly.

Tatsuya snapped Kimmimaro out of his genjutsu. He blinked and looked lost.

"Let's go." Naruto commanded, holding out his arm while he placed the other on the prisoner. Kimmimaro, still confused held his arm while Tatsuya took hold of Kimmimaro's.

There was a flicker, a shift in the air and the clearing was empty again.

* * *

**Tanzaku Town**

Sasuke sat by the window, glumly staring out of it at the not-so-busy street. Sleep threatened to dominate again, but he blinked it off. At first he was eager to find out more of the memories, but now he wasn't so sure. He just woke up from a nightmare where he saw Naruto kill Sakura, again and again. Sasuke didn't know if it was something like an aftershock to those memories. But, now he wasn't so sure that he wanted to go back to sleep now.

The ANBU - Yamato was on guard outside his door. The other members of the team Kakashi , Yugao and Itachi were also on guard securing the various strategic points both inside and outside the inn. Tomorrow he will be escorted back to the village to face the council, to narrate the events of the mission. Now, that's definitely something to look forward to.

He brushed the hair off his eyes and leaned his head back to the wall. He then slowly closed his eyes.

_I am turning blind._

It was the third time in his life that he activated Sunano'o…

Now the effects are finally beginning to show.

Inhaling a deep breath, he absently pulled out a shuriken from his pouch beside and playfully twirled it on his finger, his thumb revolving it. He then slowly released his breath.

His body suddenly went rigid, the shuriken revolving around his finger came to a halt. He _felt _it more than he heard it.

_There was someone else in the room._

He suddenly opened his eyes to reveal the Sharingan. Jumping to his feet he sent the the shuriken flying at the shadowy corner of the room.

The metal star sliced through the air towards the corner.

Sharingan active, Sasuke recognized the chakra, but it was the voice that confirmed that his Kekkei genkai wasn't lying. His sharingan spiraled to see if it was a genjutsu.

"Hey, teme." Uzumaki Naruto slowly emerged from the shadows, holding the shuriken between his two fingers. "let's catch up." he flicked his fingers and sent the Shuriken flying back to Sasuke.

* * *

**~ To be Continued ~**


	7. Ch6: The Devil you know

Chapter Six

**The Devil you know**

* * *

**F**irst it was shock, then slowly his faced melted to confusion, there was a hint of fear too then slowly his Ninja instincts kicked in. Switching to a taijutsu stance with the Kunai held out, ready to attack Sasuke noticed the intruder approach.

"Hello, Teme." Uzumaki Naruto slowly emerged from the shadows, holding the shuriken between his two fingers. "Let's catch up." he flicked his fingers and sent the shuriken flying back to Sasuke.

Sasuke deflected the incoming projectile with the kunai, the tiny sound of metal on metal seemed to reverberate in his ears. There was a tiny thud as the shuriken pierced the floor.

Naruto who was smiling. But, his eyes told he was serious. Sasuke stared back at him, his face blank and impassive, trying to hold back the memories of his once best friend that seemed to be crashing down. Other than a twitch of his eye, Sasuke didn't move from his place. Everything seemed to be blurry at once. Sasuke's eyes started to ache. A series of throbs shot through, making him feel like his head was going to burst.

Giving himself a light shake, he focused on Naruto.

No one said a word. But, they reacted at once.

Sasuke flickered behind Naruto, his Kunai slashing. But, Naruto was quick. There was a resounding clang as Naruto countered it with his own kunai. Smiling cockily, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's wrist and flung him on the floor, face first. With the sharingan, Sasuke saw himself hit the floor a second before he actually hit it.

The pain of the impact shot through his body. There were another series of stings from his eyes, which made him scream a little.

_Damn Mangekyo!_

Where the hell was the ANBU? _Damn it! _

He felt Naruto place his Knee on his back, His arm was twisted and he let the Kunai slide to the floor with a brief clatter. _Damn it! _Sasuke thought as another wave of pain hit him.

"Very, very, very disappointed, Sasuke." Naruto said gloomily, "Two seconds? Seriously?"

There was a flash of electric blue and Sasuke's twisted arm burst into electric current. The eerie flickering blue light and the shadows danced on Naruto's face, which was now screwed in pain.

Naruto's eyes filled with held his kunai to Sasuke's throat. The cold metal of the sharp edge of the blade threatening to tear open the jugular.

"Okay, enough." Naruto panted, wincing painfully as the chidori continued to graze him. "I take it back. I'm not disappointed." He hissed as the lighting blade continued to hit him. "Stop it, Sasuke…or I'll hit you with a Rasengan on your head and see how this room looks in a fresh coat of red. I told you I just want to talk."

Sasuke didn't try to breath or gulp as the Kunai would cleanly cut the throat even if he tried to shift a bit. He was already low on chakra and the blurriness was new to him, not to mention the pain shooting through his eyes.

Gritting his teeth, he stopped the chidori.

Naruto leapt to his feet and started to nurse the injury on his forearm and palm. "Damn it, teme…"

Sasuke stood up, picking up his kunai, now the aching arm adding up to the other pains shooting all over his body. Gasping in fresh air, he squinted at Naruto who was now coming in and out of focus.

There must be enough disturbance for the ANBU to come rushing in, so why are they not coming?

Sasuke's eyes went to the door.

"They can't hear us." Naruto said wincing as he nursed his wrist. I've placed one of my 'Do-not-disturb' seals."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sasuke looked shocked, the sharingan blazing.

Naruto slightly leaned his head to the side and smiled at him cockily. "Nine to see you too."

The last memory he had of Naruto was getting his chest ripped, by the very jutsu that he taught his teammate and suddenly three years later Naruto pops out of nowhere.

Sasuke realized that his heart was beating madly in his chest, beads of perspiration tricked down his face. He slipped into an attack stance pulling out a kunai and twirling it around his finger once before gripping it tight. His eyes were still stinging.

"Why are you here, Naruto?" Sasuke hissed

Naruto turned to him, "I heard you were looking for me." He started to walk around the room, he pointed his finger at the open windows and they slammed shut.

"As you, Sasuke, have probable figured, I don't have much time to spare, so forgive me for being blunt…" Naruto said, "I need your help."

"My help?" Sasuke asked, stunned.

"I've traced down the man who attacked Konoha with the Kyuubi sixteen years ago." Naruto folded his arms. "And maybe you're right, I can't face him alone…"

"What are you talking about? The Kyuubi was a natural occurrence…"

Naruto looked puzzled. "What did you say?"

Sasuke cringed as another wave of pain hit him, he staggered in his place a bit, but remained standing.

Naruto unfolded his arms. "Kuroryuu." He said clearly.

"What?"

In a flash Naruto was before him, his hand raised. Before Sasuke could do anything, Naruto placed his hand on his head. There was a brief pause before Sasuke yelled, as he fell to his knees. The knunai slipped from his fingers and clattered to the floor.

His head felt like it was abut to burst. His body was unable to handing this pain anymore, he felt like he was about to faint.

Naruto crouched before him, his face thoughtful. "Your memories are sealed…" He muttered.

_Kuroryuu…_

_"__Setsuna trusts me…I think we might be able to do it…"_

_"__Unfortunately, I can't say the same for Danzo…"_

_…_

_"__I don't think they know who unleashed the Kyuubi though…The Uchiha doesn't believe it is one of them…"_

_"__Who do you think did it?"_

_"__No idea, but someone like me…someone with a Mangekyo…"_

_…_

_"__If we find him, I want to face him too…I'm probably the only one who can counter his Sharingan…"_

_"Fine__."_

Sasuke gaped suddenly gasped as the memory wave stopped. He was lying on the floor with his cheek pressed to it.

"What the hell is going on?" He heard distinctly heard Naruto whisper.

Sasuke stood up slowly. He was starting to lose the count of how many times he hit the floor today. Naruto stood upright, looking like he was in deep thought.

_Everything we planned together…it doesn't mean a thing to you?_ The memories from before were starting to make sense. He and Naruto were indeed conspiring together! But, why did they fall apart? Were the memories he had until now, real or were they fake? Who sealed them in the first place?

_Sakura…I can bring her back…_

Sasuke's hand shot through and he clutched Naruto's collar. His Sharingan blazed in anger.

"In the final valley…what did you mean…that you can bring her back?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes and flicked them away from his sharingan. "I –"He started, he blinked once and with his arm he hit aside Sasuke's grip on his collar. "That, Sasuke…" He said , "…is a story for another day…"

"No! Tell me now!"

"I'll be waiting for you in Kiri." Naruto said seriously.

Then he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sasuke stood, gaping at empty air. _Kage Bunshin?_

Ten minutes later, Yamato peered into the room sliding the door open. Spotting a familiar figure under the sheets he proceeded to close the door; but, his eye caught something…

There, embedded on the floor was a shuriken.

Maybe, it was Sasuke, but how come he didn't hear it?

It was probably nothing. But, the ANBU never take chances. He slowly walked over to the young Uchiha to make sure he was okay. After approaching the bed he looked down at the sleeping form of Uchiha Sasuke. Satisfied that nothing was wrong, he proceeded to exit the door, but then he heard a _poof! _Whirling around, drawing his sword out, Yamato looked at Sasuke only to find a tall vase in its place.

_Object transformation? _He thought, wildly.

On the vase, there was a note attached which said the words- _Don't come looking for me – Sasuke._

Within a second, Yamato shot out of the door, advancing to alert his fellow ANBU.

* * *

Naruto blinked as he received the memories of the Kage Bunshin. Along, with the memories came something more. He looked down at his right hand that slowly started to turn into a reddish-black hue. The burn marks from Sasuke's chidori stung Naruto, reminding of the pain again.

"Tatsuya…" He hissed.

Tstsuya who was poring over a scroll, looked at him. Spotting the injured hand, she dashed forward and started to heal it.

These Kage Bunshin were special. Naruto was yet to give it a proper name. But they were ten times more resilient and sturdy than the Normal Kage Bunshin. But, like all jutsu even this one had a catch.

The burn marks slowly healed and Naruto's skin, little by little, turned back to its initial color.

Any fatal wound that these Bunshin suffer, they carry it back to Naruto after they dispel.

Naruto had arrived at the Land of Rivers hideout and sent his special Bunshin to meet Sasuke after learning of his last known location from Gaara. And that visit proved to be informative. Very informative.

The hideout was located underground, with many passages and rooms.

There were the sounds of approaching footsteps and Kimmimaro appeared at the entrance. "They've arrived." He said.

There were sounds of shuffling feet and Gaara entered the room, followed by Haku and Hinata.

Naruto looked at the group. They looked wild and tired. Haku had dark circles under his eyes he smiled weakly at Naruto. "Hey, Naruto." Hinata's hair was messy and crisp. And her face was red, and not because she was blushing. "Naruto-kun." she whispered happily.

Naruto turned his eyes to Gaara who was leaning to a wall and like always, looked like he was brooding. "We brought a guest..." He spoke without emotion.

There were another set of footsteps and then came someone he least expected: Orochimaru.

_About time._

"Naruto-kun…" The snake sannin rasped. His green, slit-pupiled eyes were narrowed and his lips widened to a sinister smile.

"Orochimaru." Naruto greeted, his voice serious.

He stood up, still not taking his eyes of him. "Leave us." He spoke to the room.

Everyone in the room stood still, confused, their eyes switching from the Sannin to Naruto. _"Now."_

The members of the group looked at each other and slowly one by one, they exited the room.

"Do you have it?" Naruto asked, as Gaara slammed the door shut.

Orochimaru held out his hand and a scroll slipped out from it. Clutching it, he presented it to Naruto.

Naruto didn't trust the Snake sannin, not the way he did before anyway and he could see that Orochimaru felt the same way about him. He was careful what he said in front of Kimmimaro because, he served Orochimaru before joining Naruto.

Naruto unrolled the scroll, his eyes travelling down the contents. After a few seconds, satisfied he rolled it back and sealed the clasp.

"Naruto-kun, forgive me if am being intruding in your affairs," Orochimaru expressed. "But, why do you need the _Edo Tensei_?"

"I forgive you," Naruto said blankly, "You are intruding in my affairs" He slipped the scroll into his pouch.

Orochimaru smirked.

"Come." Naruto said, turning and walking deeper into the hideout.

The torches in the passageways lit automatically as they went deeper and deeper into the hideout. After a few steps, the passageway ended to reveal a set of cells on their either sides. Finally they approached a cell, locked by a metal door.

Naruto unlocked it and they entered. The cell had two prisoners chained to either side of the walls. On their right was Aburame Shindo and chained on their left was a wild looking man.

"Is that Shindo?" Orochimaru asked, somewhat amused.

"Yes. That's your old partner."

"And…" Orochimaru's eyes flicked to the other large man who was struggling uselessly against his chains. "That is?"

"Someone nobody's gonna miss."

Naruto stepped into the middle of the cell.

"Are those your Edo Tensei subjects?" Orochimaru, asked.

"No…" Naruto was short, his eyes fell on Shindo and he suddenly remembered something. "I want to know how that _idiot," _He jerked his tums towards Shindo. "Managed to get his hands on the priceless Intel, which I've been searching for my entire life and you didn't…"

"Did he say that the man was in Kirigakure?"

Naruto turned to him, eyes disbelieving. "You Knew?"

Orochimaru shrugged. "It is just a silly rumor…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for the last few years the Yondaime Mizukage was acting strange, he started the bloodline purges…people believe that he is under someone's influence…"

"And a man with such an influence can control the Kyuubi…"

Orochimaru shrugged. "Shido simply put two and two together…"

"So it is all just guesswork then? No solid proof? Are you sure it is not the Akatsuki?"

"On that part I'm unclear…"

_Damn it!_

"Why are these two here anyway?" Orochimaru asked looking at the prisoners.

Naruto gave a childish smirk. "I am trying a jutsu that I thought might interest you…"

"Hmm?"

"Here, look…" Naruto approached Shindo and crouched before him. He pulled out a blank piece of scroll, bit his thumb and started drawing strange lines and seals on it with his blood. He flicked a kunai at Shindo's cheek, and continued to draw the seals with the Aburame's blood using the kunai.

Going over a set of seals, _horse, rabbit, monkey, rabbit, dragon, dog - _Naruto slapped his palms over the scroll.

The Aubrame jerked awake, he slowly widened his eyes and started to scream. A strange green blue chakra seemed to be sucking out of him in to the seal.

Orochimaru looked on interestingly.

"What are you doing to me!?" Shindo screamed.

The ritual stopped after the chakra got sucked out and Shindo fainted. Naruto slowly stood up and walked over to the other prisoner and placed the seal script before him. Going through anothert set of seals – _monkey, dragon, horse, dragon, dog, monkey, horse, dragon – _he slapped his hands on the seal.

The red lines suddenly glowed yellow and the seal lines came alive. Snaking their way out of the paper they travelled over the prisoner's body. The man started to scream, the glowing seal lines travelled over his entire body and stopped. Then slowly they sank into his skin.

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. _Is Naruto doing what I think he's doing?_

Naruto seemed to be waiting with bated breath. Then his smile widened as he heard familiar buzzing sound.

He looked behind at the Aburame as a swarm of insects shot out of him and shot towards the other prisoner. The man looked confused, but the bugs were not attacking him, they were entering him. He blinked around in confusion.

"What the HELL!?"

Naruto smirked. As the last of the insects entered the prisoner, Naruto stood up and walked to where Orochimaru stood. "Did you just - ?"

"Yeah. But, I'm missing something."

Orochimaru looked us at the sounds of pain coming from the other man. Slowly and slowly they grew louder. "PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!" He sobbed. His face and skin suddenly cut in multiple places and it started to bleed as the insects swarmed around him, they seemed to be attacking him. After ten minutes of screams of agony, the man stopped moving, now his skin nothing more than a bloody mess.

"I've transferred the ownership of Kickaichu from an Aburame to a non-Aburame. But, somehow the bugs realize that this is the wrong man they are serving and they start to attack him…"

Orochimaru looked at him, his eyes widening in shock and surprise.

"…but, if their owner dies…" Naruto looked at the Aburame's entire swarm of bugs that weren't moving and were on the ground. "so will the bugs…"

Orochimaru, never in his life was as shocked as he was now.

"I got the basic theory and the conception of the Jutsu from the hidden scrolls that I salvaged from the Uzu ruins…" Naruto explained. "I am now working on the rehabilitation part, and am hitting a dead end." He looked at the two prisoners. "But, I'm sure that it's just a matter of time before I get the right seal matrix…"

He glanced at Orochimaru.

"I'll make you a deal…I'll give you his jutsu after I perfect it…" Naruto narrowed his eyes. "_If _you break the genjutsu blocks in my mind."

Orochimaru suddenly looked forlorn. "You know I can't break them Naruto, whoever the seal master was who sealed your memories was perfect. I've told you once before…I doubt even if Jiraiya can – "

"IT'S A FAIR DEAL!" Naruto raged. He was making an offer of a lifetime to Orochimaru, and now he of all people had to start acting all noble and respectful! That one sealed memory might be the key to breaking the Akatsuki. His leverage! His time is coming and Naruto certainly did not want to die!

"I visited Sasuke and guess what!? His memories are sealed too!" Naruto shouted. "Who the fuck is behind this, Orochimaru?" Naruto seethed.

Orochimaru looked unreadable. "I will try to break them, Naruto…" He said, "But, I need time…"

Time is the only thing that Naruto was short on, but it was his only chance. "Fine…Just make it fast…"

Orochimaru's eyes lingered on the dead prisoner. Thinking about the failed jutsu and his next step to breaking the genjutsu blocks, he turned and walked out of the room, and down the corridor, leaving Naruto alone with his thoughts.

* * *

**~ To be Continued ~**


End file.
